HEBREW 


INSCRIPTIONS, 


FROM  THE  VALLEYS  BETWEEN  EGYPT 


AND 


MOUNT  SINAI, 

IN  THEIR  ORIGINAL  CHARACTERS,  WITH  TRANSLATIONS  AND  AN 

ALPHABET. 


By  SAMUEL  taAEPE, 

AUTHOR  OP  “THE  HISTORY  OP  EGYPT.” 


WITH  TWENTY  PEA  T E S. 


Oh  that  my  words  were  now  written  ! 

Oh  that  they  were  imprinted  on  [mount]  Sephar  ! 

That  with  an  iron  pen  and  a leaden  hammer 
They  were  chiselled  into  the  rock  for  ever  ! 

Job  xix.  23,  24. 


LONDON: 

JOHN  RUSSELL  SMITH,  36,  SOHO  SQUARE. 
1875. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/hebrewinscriptioOOshar 


PEEP  A CE. 


In  the  year  1820  Mr.  G.  F.  Grey  brought  home  from  Egypt  a 
number  of  valuable  MSS.  on  papyrus  in  the  enchorial  character, 
and  also  copies  of  about  two  hundred  inscriptions  from  the 
neighbourhood  of  Mount  Serbal,  chiefly  from  Wady  Mocatteb. 
These  latter  were  published  in  the  “ Transactions  of  the  Royal 
Society  of  Literature  for  1832. 55  Some  few  are  in  Latin  and 
Greek;  but  the  larger  number  are  in  the  unknown  character, 
usually  known  by  the  name  of  the  Sinaitic  writing.  These  I am 
here  endeavouring  to  explain. 

The  two  best  known  works  on  these  Sinaitic  inscriptions  are 
that  by  Professor  Beer  of  Leipsic,  of  which  the  title  is  given 
below,  * and  the  Rev.  Charles  Forster’s  u Sinai  Photographed.” 

Professor  Beer  considers  them  as  neither  Hebrew  nor  Jewish, 
but  written  by  Nabataeans,  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighbourhood, 
mostly  in  the  fourth  century  of  our  era.  He  forms  an  alphabet 
founded  on  the  obvious  Hebrew  letters  T D b CD  ]/  i£>,  and  with  this 
alphabet  he  transcribes  the  inscriptions  into  Hebrew  letters.  But 
he  makes  very  little  attempt  to  translate  them,  and  he  thus  offers 
no  proof  that  his  assumed  alphabet  is  right.  Had  his  characters 
when  used  consistently  brought  out  a meaning  which  we  could 
accept  as  probable,  his  efforts  would  have  been  of  some  value. 

Mr.  Forster  proceeds  differently.  He  supposes  that  these 
inscriptions  were  cut  by  the  Israelites  under  Moses,  and  that  they 

* Inscriptiones  Veteres,  literis  et  lingua  hucusque  incognitis,  ad 
Montem  Sinai  servataa.  Auctore  E.  F.  F.  Beer.  Lepsiae,  1840. 


IV 


PREFACE. 


record  the  miracle  of  the  Red  Sea  being  divided  to  let  the 
Israelites  pass.  He  believes  that  he  can  read  the  Bible  narrative 
in  them  by  means  of  the  Arabic  language,  into  which  he  translates 
without  transcribing. 

Professor  E.  H.  Palmer  of  Cambridge  has  had  the  advantage 
of  examining  the  living  rocks,  and  he  is  of  opinion,  as  stated  in 
his  “Desert  of  the  Exodus,  1871,”  that  the  Sinaitic  inscriptions 
are  in  an  Aramaean  or  Semitic  dialect  akin  to  Arabic ; that  while  a 
few  are  Christian,  a large  portion  are  Pagan  ; that  they  are  the 
work  of  traders  and  carriers,  are  of  little  worth,  and  have  nothing 
whatever  to  do  with  the  children  of  Israel.  lie  adds,  however,  the 
valuable  testimony  to  that  of  former  travellers,  that  inscriptions 
are  abundant  on  the  road  from  Wady  Feiran  to  the  top  of  Serbal, 
and  apparently  uninjured  by  the  weather. 

Neither  Professor  Beer,  nor  Mr.  Forster,  nor  Professor  Palmer 
have  satisfied  the  conditions  required  for  us  to  accept  their  opinions 
as  final.  We  cannot  trust  Professor  Beer’s  transcripts  without 
translations,  nor  Mr.  Forster’s  translations  without  transcripts. 
Professor  Palmer’s  work  has  neither  transcripts  nor  translations. 
The  decipherer  should  produce  first  an  alphabet  or  table  of 
characters,  and  then  to  some  extent  a language,  and,  lastly,  a 
probable  meaning  to  each  sentence. 

These  three  conditions  are,  I believe,  complied  with  to  a reasonable 
extent  in  the  following  pages.  In  Plates  2 — 20  are  given  rather 
more  than  one  hundred  of  Mr.  Grey’s  inscriptions  which  are  to  be 
deciphered.  These  are  transcribed  into  the  Hebrew  letters  by  the 
help  of  the  alphabet  in  Plate  1.  They  are  then  translated  as 
Biblical  Hebrew  or  Chaldee,  and  each  is  accompanied  with  such 
remarks  as  the  case  requires. 

The  conditions  are  complied  with,  as  I say,  to  a reasonable 
extent  only,  because  it  will  be  seen  that  the  alphabet  is  not  so 
simple  as  to  have  only  one  character  for  each  Hebrew  letter;  and 
the  sense  produced  is  sometimes  doubtful.  But  these  flaws  in  the 
proof  are  not  greater  than  might  be  expected  and  allowed  in  the 
case  of  inscriptions  possibly  incorrectly  copied,  and  written  in  the 
very  smallest  number  of  letters.  The  flaws  would  have  been 


PREFACE. 


V 


fewer,  and  the  proof  would  perhaps  have  appeared  more  complete, 
if  those  inscriptions  only  had  been  produced  which  can  be  most 
certainly  read. 

In  1860,  Dr.  Lepsius  of  Berlin  published  a number  of  the 
Sinaitic  inscriptions  for  the  Prussian  Government  in  his  “ Denk- 
maeler  aus  iEgypten  und  iEthiopen.’’  Several  of  these  are  Greek ; 
of  the  others,  some  had  been  published  by  Mr.  Grey,  but  some 
were  new  to  us.  But  I have  not  been  able  conveniently  to  make 
use  of  Dr.  Lepsius’s  work,  and  I have  confined  myself  to  Mr. 
Grey’s  inscriptions. 

Though  the  Greek  inscriptions  are  not  translations  of  the  others, 
they  gave  me  the  first  hint  to  their  meaning.  Several  begin  with 
the  word  fivrjcrOii,  let  him  be  remembered.  This  naturally  leads  us 
to  look  for  the  same  thought  in  the  others ; and  it  was  not  difficult  to 
take  the  first  letters  in  the  very  first  of  our  inscriptions  for  pm  b, 
fur  a memorial.  "With  this  beginning  the  task  is  plain.  If  the 
inscriptions  are  in  the  Hebrew  language,  or  in  a dialect  of  Hebrew, 
it  is  by  no  means  an  indeterminate  problem  to  find  the  meaning 
by  putting  such  a force  upon  each  of  the  unknown  characters  as 
shall  make  good  sense,  taking  care  that  each  character,  wherever 
it  is  met  with,  bears  the  same  force.  This  would  be  easy  if  all 
the  inscriptions  were  of  one  age,  and  cut  with  the  neatness  which 
we  find  in  the  Greek  and  Roman  inscriptions.  But  unfortunately 
this  is  not  the  case.  Many  are  very  carelessly  cut — perhaps  by 
unlettered  persons,  who  did  not  give  to  a letter  always  the  same 
form.  Thus,  though  we  cannot  say  that  wre  have  here  several 
alphabets,  yet  wre  have  more  than  one  form  for  some  of  the  letters, 
and  some  letters  so  badly  formed  as  to  leave  their  force  doubtful. 
In  many  of  Mr.  Grey’s  inscriptions  the  letters  are  so  entangled 
together,  that  I have  thought  it  better  to  leave  their  deciphering 
unattempted,  and  they  are  not  included  in  these  pages. 

This  recovery  of  a piece  of  lost  knowledge,  of  the  powTer  of 
reading  an  interesting  page  of  history,  will  probably  lead  travellers 
to  enlarge  that  page  by  bringing  home  copies  of  the  other 
inscriptions  on  and  near  to  Mount  Serbal. 

To  those  who  have  never  amused  themselves  with  deciphering 


VI 


PREFACE. 


writing  in  an  unknown  alphabet,  an  English  example  may  be 
interesting  and  useful. 

The  following  is  an  advertisement  in  the  Daily  News  of 
October  5th,  1871  : — 


ATC.  pbcyet.  mnpz.  gb.  Setaneo.  Asnfs.  Iqy fsj . be.  m. 

’ Jqnaa.  ms.  ng.  Manpzqsngq.  be.  ap.  gyaa.  seo.  bz.  cbegq. 
Liygs.  gb.  cs.  gqsis.  Naa.  zj.  Nsaa.  hs.  pne.  cssg.  ebb. 


The  problem  to  be  solved  is  the  same  in  this  case  as  in  the 
Sinaitic  inscriptions,  namely: — 

Having  a quantity  of  writing  in  unknown  characters,  let  it 
be  granted — • 

1st.  That  the.  language  is  known,  or  has  been  rightly 
guessed  (in  the  one  case  English,  in  the  other  case  Hebrew); 

2nd.  That  the  characters  have  been  used  consistently,  and 
always  have  the  same  force  throughout;  and 

3rd.  That  the  writing  contains  sentences  which  were  written 
in  order  to  be  understood. 

Required  the  translation  of  the  writing,  and  the  force  to  be 
given  to  each  character. 

I add  the  answer,  namely,  the  transcription  of  the  above, 
and  the  alphabet. 

In  this  case  the  transcription  and  the  translation  are  the 
same- 

1st  line.  Am  coming  back  to  England.  Leave  R.  Hives  on 
b [oard] . 

2nd  line.  Shall  be  at  Blackheath  on  L.  C.  till  end  of  month. 

3rd  line.  Write  to  me  there.  All  ks  aell.  We  can  meet  now. 


PREFACE. 

VII 

The 

Alphabet. 

Fur 

a 

read 

l 

For 

j 

read 

s 

For 

S 

read 

e 

>> 

b 

) J 

0 

k 

>> 

— 

n 

t 

?? 

g 

5) 

c 

n 

m 

>> 

1 

J > 

w 

n 

U 

? J 

— 

>5 

d 

— 

>> 

m 

b 

>•) 

V 

JJ 

— 

e 

n 

>> 

n 

a 

w 

>) 

— 

>» 

f 

V 

>> 

0 

JJ 

d 

X 

— 

g 

j> 

t 

J5 

P 

c 

j? 

y 

>> 

i 

n 

h 

?> 

w 

JJ 

q 

h 

z 

k 

J5 

i 

n 

r 

>5 

r 

>> 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  answer  is  not  wholly  satisfactory.  In 
the  alphabet  we  have  the  letter  w twice,  which  should  not  be. 
In  the  transcription  we  have  “All  ks  aell,”  which  should  probably 
be  “ All  is  well.”  We  have  single  letters  to  which  a meaning 
must  be  given  by  conjecture,  and  a proper  name  'which  may  or 
may  not  be  right.  The  writer,  or  the  printer,  may  have  made 
mistakes.  But  we  cannot  be  far  wrong  in  the  meaning  of  the 
sentence.  It  may  be  usefully  compared  to  our  Sinaitic  inscriptions  ; 
the  difficulties  are  nearly  the  same  in  each  case.  There  is,  how- 
ever, this  difference.  In  the  English  wc  have  only  about  one 
hundred  letters;  all  doubt  -would  be  removed  if  we  had  a larger 
quantity.  In  the  Hebrew  on  the  other  hand,  where  we  have  a 
sufficiently  large  quantity,  we  have  two  other  causes  for  uncer- 
tainty: the  writing  is  by  various  hands,  and  the  characters, 
where  repeated,  are  not  strictly  of  the  same  form  ; and,  again,  they 
are  not  divided  for  us  into  words.  But  in  each  case  the  possible 
errors  are  confined  within  very  narrow  limits,  because  in  each 
language  the  ways  in  which  the  letters  can  be  combiued  into 
words  are  limited  in  number. 

32,  Highbury  Place, 

September,  1875. 


WORKS  BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 


The  HISTORY  of  the  HEBREW  NATION  and  its  LITERATURE. 

Third  Edition. 

The  HEBREW  SCRIPTURES  TRANSLATED,  being  a Revision  of 
the  Authorized  English  Old  Testament.  3 vols.  Second  Edition. 

SHORT  NOTES  to  accompany  a Revised  Translation  of  the  Hebrew 
Scriptures. 

The  NEW  TESTAMENT  TRANSLATED  from  Griesbach’s  Text. 
Seventh  Edition. 

The  CHRONOLOGY  of  the  BIBLE. 

TEXTS  from  the  HOLY  BIBLE,  explained  by  the  Help  of  the  Ancient 
Monuments.  Second  Edition. 

CRITICAL  NOTES  on  the  Authorized  English  Version  of  the  New 
Testament.  Second  Edition. 

The  HTSTORY  of  EGYPT,  from  the  Earliest  Times  to  the  Conquest  by 
the  Arabs,  b.c.  640.  Fifth  Edition. 

ALEXANDRIAN  CHRONOLOGY. 

EGYPTIAN  INSCRIPTIONS  from  the  British  Museum  and  other 
sources  ; 216  Plates,  in  Polio. 

EGYPTIAN  HIEROGLYPHICS,  being  an  Attempt  to  Explain  their 
Nature,  Origin,  and  Meaning  ; with  a VOCABULARY. 

EGYPTIAN  ANTIQUITIES  in  the  BRITISH  MUSEUM  described. 

EGYPTIAN  MYTHOLOGY  and  EGYPTIAN  CHRISTIANITY, 
with  their  Influence  on  the  Opinions  of  Modern  Christendom. 

The  DECREE  of  CANOPUS,  in  Hieroglyphics  and  Greek  ; with  Trans- 
lations, and  an  Explanation  of  the  Hieroglyphical  Characters. 

The  ROSETTA  STONE  in  Hieroglyphics  and  Greek;  with  Trans- 
lations and  an  Explanation  of  the  Hieroglyphical  Characters,  and  followed 
by  an  Appendix  of  Kings’  Names. 


ON  THE  SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Wady  Mocatteb,  or  the  Sculptured  Valley,  is  a small  barren 
plain  on  the  direct  route  from  Egypt  to  the  fertile  oasis  of  Wady 
Feiran  and  to  Mount  Serbal,  a route  which  must  have  been  trod 
by  the  Israelites  when  they  left  Egypt  for  the  conquest  of  the 
Amorites  on  the  east  of  the  Jordan,  and  the  after  occupation  of 
Canaan.  It  has  gained  its  name  from  the  inscriptions  which  are 
cut  on  the  face  of  the  rocks  and  on  the  boulders  of  sandstone, 
sprinkled  over  the  valley  for  a distance  of  several  miles.  These 
inscriptions  are  also  found  in  smaller  numbers  in  the  fertile  Wady 
Feiran,  at  the  northern  foot  of  Serbal.  But  there  the  rocks  do 
not  offer  the  same  convenience  to  the  sculptor.  Some  are  also 
found  on  the  mountain  itself.  But  few  or  none  have  been  found 
on  the  eastern  side  of  the  peninsula  of  Sinai,  that  is,  on  the 
side  furthest  from  Egypt.  Thus  their  situation  tells  us  very 
clearly  that  they  were  cut  by  travellers  from  Egypt  to  Serbal, 
who  went  no  further,  but  returned  to  Egypt  after  visiting  the 
mountain.  They  were  not  cut  by  travellers  who,  like  the 
Israelites  under  Moses,  passed  across  the  whole  of  the  peninsula  ; 
but  we  may  safely  say  that  they  are  the  work  of  men  who,  as 
pilgrims  from  Egypt,  had  come  to  visit  that  holy  spot. 

The  entrance  to  Wady  Mocatteb  is  about  thirty  miles  from 
Mount  Serbal ; and  from  that  spot  another  valley,  Wady 
Maghara,  runs  northward  towards  Sarabut  el  Khadim.  This 
is  equally  barren  with  the  former,  and  is  marked  by  hiero- 
glyphical  inscriptions  of  a great  age,  some  of  the  age  of  the 
pyramids,  and  others  more  modern,  during  the  reigns  of  the  great 
Theban  kings.  These  were  cut  by  the  Egyptians  who  worked 

B 


2 


INTRODUCTION. 


the  copper  mines  in  that  neighbourhood  ; and  the  tombstones 
of  the  miners  yet  remain  there  inscribed  with  hieroglyphics. 

The  inscriptions  in  Wady  Mocatteb  are  not  in  hieroglyphics, 
but  in  an  unknown  character,  which,  however,  is  readily  seen  to 
be  allied  to  the  Hebrew,  and  indeed  to  contain  some  Hebrew 
letters.  They  have  usually  and  justly  been  considered  the  work 
of  Jews  •,  but  those  who  have  examined  them  are  by  no  means 
agreed  either  as  to  their  age  or  their  purpose. 

History  gives  us  some  little  information  which  is  of  use  in 
judging  when  these  inscriptions  were  written ; at  least  it  tells 
us  when  there  were  Hebrews  in  Egypt  who  are  likely  to  have 
visited  this  spot  after  it  had  gained  its  character  for  holiness. 

First,  when  the  Assyrians  under  Sennacherib  invaded  Judea, 
in  the  reign  of  Hezekiah,  b.c.  714,  there  was  a flight  of  Jews 
into  Egypt,  chiefly  from  the  South  Country,  or  the  parts  about 
Hebron,  who  hastened  there  for  safety  from  their  murderous 
armies.  “ They  put  their  riches  upon  the  shoulders  of  young 
asses,  and  their  treasures  upon  the  bunches  of  camels/’  and 
carried  them  to  Egypt ; and  they  are  blamed  by  the  prophet 
Isaiah,  in  chap,  xxx.,  for  doing  so,  for  thus  deserting  their 
country  in  its  distress. 

Again,  about  a century  later,  when  the  Babylonians  under 
Nebuchadnezzar  conquered  Judea,  and  carried  its  principal  in- 
habitants into  captivity,  there  was  a further  flight  of  Jews  into 
Egypt.  At  that  time  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  and  his  friend 
Baruch,  were  both  carried  off  into  Egypt  against  their  will  by 
some  of  these  fugitives. 

During  the  years  which  followed  each  of  these  misfortunes 
there  can  have  been  no  lack  of  JewTs  in  Egypt  who  must  have 
wished  to  visit  the  mountain  which  their  Scriptures  told  them 
was  the  holy  spot  where  Jehovah  had  spoken  to  Moses,  and  had 
delivered  to  him  the  Ten  Commandments,  and  the  Levitical 
Law. 

It  is  not  probable  that  any  of  them  had  come  to  Egypt 
through  the  peninsula  of  Sinai,  and  had  visited  Mount  Serbal 
in  passing.  The  route  from  Judea  does  not  run  so  far  to  the 


THE  JEWS  DRIVEN  INTO  EGYPT. 


3 


south.  The  visits  to  Mount  Serbal  were  made  by  Jews  wlio  had 
come  from  Egypt  for  the  purpose. 

By  one  of  these  Jews,  who  had  fled  from  home  and  its  dangers, 
we  must  suppose  that  Numbers  xxxiii.  was  written.  The  writer 
seems  to  have  had  the  earlier  narrative  in  his  hand,  and  he  shows 
a full  knowledge  of  the  country  from  Egypt  to  Mount  Shapher, 
or  Serbal ; but,  as  after  that  spot  his  knowledge  becomes  less 
exact,  we  judge  that  he  was  one  of  those  pilgrims  who  went  no 
further,  but  from  Serbal  returned  to  Egypt. 

Many  of  the  Jews  who  had  thus  settled  in  Egypt  as  cultivators 
of  the  soil,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Delta,  were  led  by  the  wise 
conduct  of  Ptolemy,  about  b.c.  300,  to  move  westward,  and 
establish  themselves  as  merchants  and  tradesmen  in  the  new  city 
of  Alexandria,  where  they  gained  a knowledge  of  the  Greek 
tongue,  and  very  much  dropt  the  use  of  Hebrew.  But  about 
b.c.  175,  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  the  Greek  King  of  Syria,  by  his 
mad  cruelty  drove  a further  body  of  Jews  into  Egypt,  who  again 
added  numbers  to  the  Hebrew  colony  in  the  east  of  the  Delta. 
A few  years  afterwards,  when  the  Maccabees  gained  for  their 
country  its  independence,  Onias  IV,  the  deposed  high  priest 
came  also  to  Egypt,  and  obtained  leave  of  the  then  reigning 
Ptolemy  to  build  a temple  in  the  east  of  the  Delta  in  rivalry 
to  that  at  Jerusalem. 

Thus  history  shows  us  that  for  many  centuries,  from  the  reign 
of  Hezekiah,  b.c.  700  downwards,  there  were  always  Jews  in 
Egypt,  most  of  whom  would  have  wished  to  visit  the  holy  mount 
in  Sinai,  and  many  of  whom  would  have  had  the  means  to  make 
that  rather  expensive  pilgrimage,  and  who  may  have  laboriously 
chiselled  these  rude  inscriptions  on  the  rocks. 

Such  journeys  may  at  times  have  been  stopt  by  the  troubles 
of  war,  and  the  marches  of  armies  on  the  eastern  frontier  of 
Egypt ; but  the  peninsula  of  Sinai  was  not  closed  against  the 
Jews  until  Christianity  was  made  the  established  religion  of  the 
Roman  empire  by  Constantine  the  Great,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
fourth  century. 

Soon  after  that  time  monkish  institutions  spread  among  the 


4 


INTRODUCTION. 


Christians ; Christian  monks  settled  in  the  desert  of  Sinai,  and 
in  the  oasis  of  Feiran.  The  village  of  Feiran  rose  in  importance. 
Learned  Christians  settled  there,  and  then  the  Jewish  pilgrims 
would  hardly  have  ventered  there.  We  must  suppose  that  by 
the  time  of  Constantine  the  Hebrew  inscriptions  very  much 
ceased  in  Wady  Mocatteb,  and  then  more  particularly,  but  even 
before  then,  Greek  inscriptions  may  have  been  cut  there  side  by 
side  with  the  older  Hebrew  inscriptions. 

From  Exodus  iii.  1,  and  iv.  27,  it  clearly  appears  that  Serbal  was 
the  mount  of  God,  because  Wady  Feiran,  at  the  foot  of  Serbal, 
is  the  only  spot  where  Jethro’s  flocks  could  have  been  feeding. 
Again,  from  Exod.  x.,  we  learn  that  it  was  in  order  to  keep  the 
spring  feast,  afterwards  called  the  Passover,  that  Moses  asked  the 
leave  of  Pharaoh  for  the  Israelites  to  make  a pilgrimage  into  the 
desert,  and  to  sacrifice  to  Jehovah  there.  Hence  it  is  very  pro- 
bable that  the  pilgrims  who  cut  our  inscriptions  made  their 
difficult  and  costly  journeys  at  that  stated  time,  and  probably 
once  only  in  a lifetime ; for  no  inscription  mentions  a second  visit. 
We  must  suppose  that  Exod.  iii.— xi.,  containing  an  account  of  the 
proposed  pilgrimage,  was  written  after  the  account  of  the  delivery 
of  the  Law  in  Chap.  xix.  20,  because  it  was  from  the  delivery 
of  the  Law  that  the  mountain  gained  its  character  for  holiness 
and  its  name,  the  Mount  of  God. 

Soon  after  the  year  a.d.  530,  the  Roman  emperor,  Justinian, 
built  a new  monastery  for  the  monks  of  Sinai,  about  thirty  miles 
to  the  east  of  Wady  Feiran  and  Mount  Serbal.  It  was  called 
the  Monastery  of  St.  Catherine.  Up  to  that  time,  it  is  probable 
that  Serbal  had  always  been  considered  as  the  holy  mount  of  the 
Pentateuch.  But  after  that  time  opinions  changed ; and  the 
lofty  peak  overhanging  Justinian’s  monastery,  since  called  Mount 
St.  Catherine,  robbed  Serbal  of  the  honour  of  being  visited  as 
the  holy  mount,  until  in  the  present  century  our  European 
travellers,  by  giving  to  us  better  maps  of  the  country,  have  again 
restored  to  Mount  Serbal  its  lost  honour. 

The  original  narrative  of  the  Israelites’  march  out  of  Egypt 
has  been  thrown  into  some  disorder,  and  cannot  be  satisfactorily 


THE  ROUTE  OF  THE  ISRAELITES. 


5 


compared  with  the  maps.  But  the  difficulty  has  been  in  part 
removed  by  the  writer  of  Numbers  xxxiii.  1-49;  and  from  this 
we  are  further  able  to  show  that  Serbal  is  the  Holy  Mount  of 
the  Pentateuch. 

In  Exodus  xix.,  the  Israelites,  after  fighting  with  Amalek  at 
Rephidim,  encamped  in  the  desert  before  the  mountain,  and  there 
they  received  the  Ten  Commandments.  In  verse  23,  this  moun- 
tain is  called  Mount  Sinai.  But  this  is  not  a distinctive  name,  as 
Sinai  was  the  name  of  the  whole,  or  at  any  rate  of  a large  part, 
of  the  peninsula.  In  Exod.  iii.  1,  and  xxxiii.  6,  it  is  called 
Mount  Horeb,  which  again  may  mean  no  more  than  the  mountain 
of  the  desert,  and  it  does  not  help  us  to  fix  its  place.  But  in 
Numb,  xxxiii.  23,  where  the  geography  of  the  route  is  dis- 
tinctly traced,  it  is  called  Mount  Shapher.  Here  the  mountain 
has  a name  which  will  be  useful  to  us,  and  a place  on  the  line  of 
march,  by  the  help  of  which  we  can  find  it  on  the  map. 

Thus  the  Israelites,  after  passing  through  the  Red  Sea,  come  (in 
Numb,  xxxiii.  8)  to  Marah,  of  Exod.  xv.  23. 

In  verse  9,  to  Elim,  of  Exod.  xv.  27. 

In  verse  10,  they  encamp  by  the  sea. 

In  verses  11-15,  the  names  of  the  places  tell  us  that  they  are 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Egyptian  copper  mines : Dophkah, 
the  crushing  place;  Alush,  the  pounding  place;  and  Rephidim,  the 
spreading  place.  They  had  left  the  sea  coast,  perhaps  the  place 
where  the  copper  was  shipped  for  Egypt,  and  had  turned  inland, 
towards  the  desert  of  Sinai,  perhaps  by  the  miners’  road  towards 
Sarabut  el  Khadim,  where  there  are  yet  the  ruins  of  an  Egyptian 
temple.  At  Rephidim,  the  last  of  these  three  places,  they  fight 
with  Amalek  (Exod.  xvii.).  The  men  under  Amalek  may  have  been 
guards,  or  workmen  at  the  mines,  who  would  be  met  by  the 
Israelites  on  the  road  between  the  sea,  and  the  Egyptian  buildings 
at  Sarabut  el  Khadim.  In  verse  16,  they  encamp  at  Kibroth- 
liattaavah,  or  the  burial-place  at  Taavah,  the  Tih  range  of  Numb, 
xi.  34.  This  is  a spot  now  well  known,  marked  by  the  Egyptian 
tombstones  sculptured  with  hieroglyphics. 

From  the  burial-place  the  route  would  lead  them  southward 


6 


INTRODUCTION. 


through  Wady  Maghara  to  Wady  Moeatteb,  the  sculptured  valley. 
This  barren  waterless  plain  could  offer  them  no  resting-place,  and 
is  not  mentioned  as  one  of  the  stations;  but  in  verse  17  they  en- 
camp at  Hazeroth,  a village,  which  we  must  place  at  the  entrance 
to  the  fertile  oasis  Wady  Feiran. 

Verses  18-21  mention  four  stations,  of  which  the  names  all 
speak  of  fertility,  and  evidently  point  to  Wady  Feiran,  namely 
liithinah,  the  Broom-hushes;  Rimmon-parez,  the  Pomegranate  Gap  ; 
Libnah,  the  White  Poplars ; and  Rissali,  the  Dew. 

In  verse  22,  they  are  at  Kehelathah,  the  place  of  their  assemblies  ; 
and  lastly,  in  verse  23,  at  Mount  Shapher,  the  mountain  of 
Exod.  xix.  2. 

Thus  the  writer  of  Numb,  xxxiii.  1-49,  explains  the  earlier 
narrative ; and  the  mountain  to  which  he  leads  the  Israelites  is 
clearly  Mount  Serbal.  The  name  of  Shaper,  nsii’,  which  he 
gives  to  it,  may  mean  beautiful ; but  the  numerous  inscriptions  in 
the  valleys  on  the  Egyptian  side  of  the  mountain  lead  to  the  con- 
jecture that  its  name  had  been  Sephar,  “iDD,  written.  The 
two  letters  W and  D,  so  nearly  alike  in  sound,  arc  often  changed 
one  for  the  other;  and  indeed  when  one  part  of  the  nation  used  the 
Sh,  the  other  used  the  S,  as  in  the  well-known  case  of  Shibboleth 
and  Sibboleth,  in  Judges  xii.  G. 

This  chapter  of  Numbers  was  perhaps  written  about  the  time 
of  the  carrying  away  of  the  Jews  to  Rabylon ; and  we  must 
suppose  that  before  it  was  written  the  inscriptions  around  this 
mountain  were  already  numerous  enough  to  have  gained  for  it  the 
name  of  the  Written  Mountain.  The  wind  and  rain  during  more 
than  two  thousand  years  may  have  destroyed  those  early  writings. 
We  need  not  for  our  argument  suppose  that  any  of  them  now  re- 
main ; but  they  were  the  forerunners  of  those  which  arc  now  read 
and  copied  by  our  travellers. 

Again,  in  Genesis  x.  30,  this  important  mountain  is  called 
Sephar,  “iDD,  written,  as  may  be  shown  when  the  translation 
of  the  authorized  version  is  corrected.  In  that  passage  the  Arab 
races  are  said  to  have  their  dwelling  “ from  Mesha,  as  thou  comest 
unto  Sephar,  a mount  of  the  East.”  These  words  are  meant  to 


SERBAL  THE  HOLY  MOUNT. 


7 


describe  the  whole  of  the  then  known  inhabited  part  of  Arabia; 
that  is,  the  whole  of  the  coast  on  the  east  side  of  the  lied  Sea. 
Mesa,  as  Gesenius  rightly  judged,  may  be  Mousa,  or  Mausid,  at 
the  southern  end  of  that  coast,  while  Mount  Sephar  in  Sinai  is  at 
the  northern  end  of  the  Arab  district.  The  words  Dip  n “in  mDD> 
to  Sephar,  a mount  of  the  East,  may  as  well  be  rendered  to  Sephar, 
the  mount  which  teas  of  old ; for  Sephar  is  not  in  the  east,  either 
as  regards  the  Arab  country  or  the  Hebrew  writer.  The  whole  of 
the  Arab  coast  is  well  described,  from  Mesha  in  the  south  to 
Serbal  in  the  north.  A needless  difficulty  had  been  made  by 
describing  Sephar  as  “ a mount  of  the  east.” 

It  may  be  thought  that  while  removing  one  difficulty  we  have 
brought  on  another,  by  describing  Sephar  in  the  Book  of  Genesis 
as  “ the  mount  which  was  of  old.”  But  this  is  not  an  early 
passage.  The  generations  of  Shem,  Ham,  and  Japheth  are  com- 
plete without  the  added  passage  of  x.  21 — xi.  9.  The  original 
psssage  may  have  been  written  in  Solomon's  reign  ; it  makes  the 
Arabs  to  be  children  of  Ham  ; and  it  brings  from  Shem  only 
Abraham's  descendants.  The  added  passage  was  written  much 
later,  and  it  classes  the  Arabs  more  naturally  as  Shemites ; and  it 
mentions  many  more  tribes  of  men,  after  a further  knowledge  of 
geography  had  been  gained.  The  time  when  it  was  written  may 
be  guessed  from  the  names  mentioned.  The  mention  of  Elam 
tells  us  that  it  was  written  after  Sennacherib,  in  the  reign  of 
Hezekiah,  had  brought  Elamites  in  his  army  to  the  invasion  of 
Judea,  as  is  said  in  Isaiah  xxii.  6;  and  the  omission  of  the 
Persians,  that  it  was  written  before  the  conquest  of  Babylon  by 
Cyrus,  which  gave  the  Jews  an  acquaintance  with  Persia,  as  seen 
in  Ezekiel  xxvii.  10,  and  xxxviii.  5.  After  that  time  the  Elamites 
would  not  be  classed  with  the  Assyrians,  as  they  are  in  this 
passage. 

Thus  it  would  seem  that  before  the  return  from  captivity,  as 
remarked  upon  Numbers  xxxiii.,  the  inscriptions  on  Serbal  were 
so  numerous  that  it  had  gained  the  name  of  Sephar,  written ; its 
place  in  the  earlier  narrative  naturally  gave  to  it  the  further  name 
of  “ the  mountain  which  was  of  old.”  Serbal  is  a sienite  moun- 


8 


INTRODUCTION1. 


tain,  and  though  not  the  most  lofty  in  the  peninsula,  is  the  most 
striking  and  remarkable. 

But  while  history  thus  leads  us  to  think  that  there  were 
numerous  inscriptions  on  the  Holy  Mountain,  even  as  early  as  the 
reign  of  Hezekiah,  it  is  clear  that  these  inscriptions  in  Wady 
Mocatteb,  at  a distance  of  ten  and  twenty  miles  from  the 
mountain,  cannot  be  those  which  gave  to  it  its  name.  They  have 
given  to  the  valley  the  name  of  the  Sculptured  Valley ; there 
must  have  been  others  which  gave  to  the  mountain  its  name  of 
the  Written  Mountain.  We  may  conjecture  that  of  the  two  the 
inscriptions  in  the  valley  are  the  more  modern  ; that  the  custom  of 
cutting  such  was  begun  upon  the  mountain,  and  afterwards 
continued  in  the  valley  below.  We  may  even  conjecture  the 
reason  for  this.  The  mountain  is  of  hard  sienite ; travellers 
must  have  found  it  very  difficult  to  cut  their  letters  on  such  stone ; 
and  after  a time  some  may  have  contented  themselves  with  carving 
on  the  sandstone  in  the  valley,  which,  though  hard,  is  not  so  hard 
as  the  sienite.  When  the  easier  custom  was  once  begun,  it  was 
naturally  continued.  Moreover,  of  the  numerous  Jews  who  would 
wish  to  make  a pilgrimage  from  Egypt  to  the  Holy  Mount,  many 
might  content  themselves  with  getting  a sight  of  it.  They  may 
have  come  as  far  as  Mocatteb  and  Feiran  without  having  the  time 
or  the  wish  to  climb  the  mountain.  Both  they  and  their  beasts 
may  have  been  weary  after  a journey  of  two  hundred  miles  from 
the  banks  of  the  Nile. 

Thus,  if  we  may  suppose  that  the  writings  on  the  rocks  of 
Sinai  extend  over  more  than  a thousand  years,  say  from  the 
reign  of  Hezekiah  till  after  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Constantine, 
we  must  suppose  that  those  which  have  been  copied  from  Wady 
Mocatteb  are  not  the  oldest.  There  yet  remain  at  the  top  of 
Mount  Serbal  traces  of  letters  scratched  on  the  hard  sienite,  less 
deeply  cut  and  perhaps  of  a ruder  form  than  those  in  Wady 
Mocatteb.  These  await  some  active  intelligent  traveller,  who  may 
make  copies  of  them,  and  thus  bring  home  materials  for  a further 
knowledge  of  the  Hebrew  people,  of  their  language,  and  of  the 
forms  of  their  letters. 


THE  INSCRIPTIONS. 


9 


Thus  far  we  have  been  looking  on  these  inscriptions  in  what 
has  been  called  the  Unknown  Character,  and  on  their  probable 
history,  without  regard  to  their  contents.  On  deciphering  them 
they  appear  to  be  Hebrew  or  Chaldee,  each  a short  sentence 
containing  a pious  prayer  to  Jehovah  for  the  welfare  of  the  nation, 
and  of  Jerusalem  in  its  ruined  state.  We  find  no  mention  of  a 
king — the  monarchy  had  passed  away.  We  find  no  mention  of  the 
Babylonians  and  their  cruelty ; that  had  been  forgotten  in  later 
troubles ; no  certain  mention  of  the  Captivity,  but  we  find  one 
continued  lament  for  the  scattered  state  of  the  nation,  and  the 
ruined  condition  of  the  city.  It  would  seem  as  if  it  had  been 
the  wish  of  the  unhappy  writers  to  show  us  how  many  words  the 
language  contained  by  which  they  could  describe  the  sad  state  of 
their  city,  country,  and  nation,  as  cut  short,  laid  waste,  trodden 
down,  crushed,  broken,  ruined,  despised,  rejected,  cast  out, 
scattered,  wandering,  and  so  forth. 

The  inscriptions  usually  end  with  the  word  Jao,  or  Jehovah, 
and  begin  with  either  Dekerun  or  Shalem.  Dekerun  may  mean 
“ a memorial  ” to  preserve  the  memory  of  the  writer  or  of  the* 
nation;  and  in  this  sense  the  writers  of  No.  91/7,  and  No.  145Z>, 
speak  of  their  inscriptions  on  the  rock  as  a token  which  is  to  be 
“tied  about  the  neck.”  But  the  word  is  more  often  here  used 
with  its  Levitical  meaning,  as  an  offering  to  Jehovah.  When  the 
worshipper  brought  his  animal  to  the  altar  at  Jerusalem,  the  larger 
part  of  it  was  put  aside  to  be  cooked  for  the  priests,  and  only  a 
small  portion  was  burnt  on  the  altar.  This  portion  was  called 
“ a memorial,”  as  representing  the  whole,  and  thus  any  offering 
to  Jehovah  was  called  “ a memorial.”  In  that  sense  the  word  is 
used  in  these  inscriptions.  So  the  word  Shalem,  which  may  be 
taken  as  a verb,  “ Do  thou  prosper,  or  reward,”  rather  means  " a 
peace  offering.”  Each  of  these  inscriptions,  being  a proof  that 
the  religious  pilgrimage  had  been  performed,  was  an  offering  made 
to  Jehovah.  In  No.  87  and  No.  147,  this  offering  is  said  to  be 
made  in  performance  of  a religious  vow. 

Thus,  when  these  inscriptions  were  written,  the  regard  for  the 
Levitical  Law  was  so  far  weakened  that  its  ceremonial  commands 


10 


INTRODUCTION. 


were  understood  figuratively ; its  very  words  had  gained  a new 
meaning.  The  “ peace  offering/’  and  the  “ memorial  ” portion  of 
the  burnt  offering,  were  now  duly  paid  by  a prayer  to  Heaven,  and 
not  by  an  animal  slain  upon  the  altar.  The  writings  of  Isaiah, 
the  lapse  of  time,  and  intercourse  with  foreign  countries,  had 
made  great  changes  in  religion.  Two  or  three  of  our  inscriptions, 
however,  are  said  to  be  only  part  of  the  memorial ; and  we 
must  suppose  that  the  other  part  was  the  portion  of  an  animal 
burnt  on  the  altar. 

Every  one  of  the  writers,  when  giving  a name  to  God,  uses  the 
word  Jao.  Not  one  uses  the  word  Elohim.  One,  indeed,  writes 
El-Shadeh-Jao,  God  almighty,  Jehovah.  This  is  what  we  should 
naturally  look  for.  The  outcasts  who  escaped  into  Egypt  were 
mostly  Jews,  natives  of  Judea,  who  used  the  name  of  Jehovah; 
the  Israelites  of  the  north,  who  used  the  name  of  Elohim, 
could  not  so  easily  escape  into  Egypt  when  their  country  was 
invaded. 

The  important  word  Jao,  or  Jehovah,  is  met  with  more  than  fifty 
times  in  these  inscriptions.  Twenty  times  it  is  written  with  the 
letter  n between  two  simple  strokes.  This  I read  as  in*, 
because  there  is  seldom  any  distinction  made  between  the  i and 
the  >.  Nearly  forty  times  it  is  written  with  the  letter  “i  between 
the  same  two  simple  strokes.  This  I read  as  the  same  word, 
believing  that  the  writer  purposely  omitted  one  stroke  in  his  letter, 
and  that  he  left  it  purposely  incomplete,  writing  “i  for  n.  The 
frequency  with  which  the  word  appears  makes  its  meaning  certain; 
and  there  is  equally  little  room  for  doubt  about  how  it  was  spelt. 
It  agrees  with  what  we  learn  from  the  Gnostic  gems,  and  from 
the  Ecclesiastical  historians,  who  tell  us  that  the  sacred  name, 
written  as  run',  was  pronounced  IA12.  The  writers  here  seem 
to  have  written  it  as  it  was  colloquially  pronounced. 

In  other  inscriptions  we  have  two  marks  thus,  for  the 
word  Jehovah.  This  sign  cannot  be  deciphered  with  the  same 
certainty  as  the  letters  mentioned  above,  because  it  is  met  with 
only  four  times.  But  its  place  in  each  sentence  leaves  very  little 
room  for  doubt. 


THE  NAME  OF  JEHOVAH. 


11 


Another  interesting  word,  of  which  the  meaning  is  safely  deter- 
mined by  its  place  in  the  sentence,  is  Jerusalem.  This  long  word 
the  writers  have  twelve  times  represented  by  two  single  strokes 
thus,  >*,  and  three  times  by  yy.  The  frequency  with  which 
we  meet  with  the  word  makes  its  meaning  certain.  I venture  to 
guess  that  » were  meant  for  the  first  letters  of  the  “ City  of 
Jerusalem,”  and  yy  for  the  first  letters  of  a “ ruined  heap  of 
ruins.” 

These  inscriptions  have  not  the  regularity  of  those  cut  by  the 
Greeks,  Romans,  Assyrians,  and  Babylonians,  people  who  had 
been  used  to  carve  on  stone.  They  have  often  the  easy  and 
careless  flow  of  penmanship ; and  they  thus  teach  us  that  they 
were  first  drawn  upon  the  rock  with  a pen  or  brush,  and  after- 
wards cut  in  with  an  iron  pointed  chisel  and  a hammer.  These 
inscriptions  are  not  like  the  chance  inscriptions  by  Greek  and 
Roman  travellers  on  the  foot  of  the  musical  statue  at  Thebes. 
They  are  the  very  purpose  of  the  pilgrimage.  In  order  to  cut 
them  the  traveller  came  prepared  with  suitable  tools,  such  as  lie 
could  not  meet  with  in  the  desert.  It  was  his  intention  to  com- 
plete his  pilgrimage  by  cutting  one  of  these  pious  inscriptions. 

They  are  often  on  lofty  rocks,  in  places  chosen  perhaps  that  the 
writing  may  be  out  of  harm’s  way.  The  writer  sat  on  his  beast 
while  he  wrote  them.  The  patient  camel  offered  no  hindrance 
to  this  work ; but  the  horse  was  not  always  so  quiet  and 
obedient.  The  writer  of  No.  G9  explains  this  difficulty,  and 
says  he  is  “ slipping  off,  is  thrown,  the  horse  is  rearing.” 

The  journey  from  Egypt  to  Mount  Serbal  and  back  again  is 
about  four  hundred  miles ; it  cannot  be  completed  in  much  less 
than  a month.  The  traveller  must  have  been  a man  of  some  sub- 
stance, having  with  him  a beast  or  beasts,  whether  camel,  horse, 
or  ass,  to  carry  his  tent  and  his  food,  with  companions  or  servants 
to  help  him  to  pitch  his  tent,  and  to  cook  his  morning  and  even- 
ing meals.  If  he  made  the  journey  on  foot,  he  was  twice  as  long 
on  the  road.  The  short  pointed  iron  stakes,  the  tent-pins  which 
fixed  his  tent,  and  the  leaden  hammer  which  drove  them  into 
the  ground,  may  have  been  the  tools  which  cut  the  letters  in 


13 


INTRODUCTION. 


the  sandstone  rock.  He  must  have  brought  with  him  a brush 
and  some  kind  of  paint,  or  gum  with  which  paint  could  be  made, 
to  trace  the  letters  before  they  were  cut.  The  reed  pen,  which 
when  pointed  is  used  for  writing  on  parchment  or  papyrus,  if  cut 
square  at  the  end  and  hammered  flat,  becomes  a fibrous  brush  of 
about  a quarter  of  an  inch  wide.  Such  may  have  been  the  brush 
by  which  the  letters  were  traced  ; and  it  agrees  with  the  even 
width  of  the  strokes.  The  paint  needed  was  only  such  as 
would  remain  upon  the  rock  dufingithe  hour  spent  in  cutting 
the  letters,  but  some  of  it  remains  on  Serbal  to  this  day. 

If  we  attempt  to  put  into  chronological  order  all  that  we  know 
about  the  pilgrimages  to  Mount  Serbal  and  the  writing  in  the 
neighbourhood,  adding  the  probable  dates  for  convenience’  sake, 
but  without  pretending  that,  they  are  right,  it  is  as  follows : — ■ 

b.c.  1030,  or  thereabouts,  in  the  time  of  Samuel  and  Saul, 
was  written  the  history  of  the  march  of  the  Israelites  out  of 
Egypt,  with  the  delivery  of  the  Law  in  Sinai.  This  history  gave 
to  the  mountain  its  holy  character  (Exod.  xix.  3). 

It  is  only  natural  to  suppose  that  in  the  reigns  of  Solomon  and 
his  successors  many  Jews  may  have  made  visits  of  curiosity  and 
of  devotion  to  this  mountain,  and  they  may  have  given  to  it  the 
name  of  the  Mount  of  God. 

B.c.  870,  in  the  reign  of  Jehoshaphat,  many  large  additions 
were  made  to  the  Book  of  Exodus,  including  chap.  iii. — xi.,  in 
which  Moses  asks  leave  of  Pharaoh  for  the  Israelites  to  make  a 
religious  pilgrimage  into  the  desert,  and  to  sacrifice  to  Jehovah 
there.  In  these  chapters  the  mountain  is  called  the  Mount  of 
God  ; and  thus  we  see  that  they  were  written  after  the  history  of 
the  delivery  of  the  Law,  and  after  the  custom  had  arisen  of  visit- 
ing that  holy  spot. 

b.c.  714,  when  the  Assyrians  under  Sennacherib  invaded 
Judea,  and  exercised  great  cruelty  towards  the  inhabitants,  a 
number  of  Jews  left  their  homes,  where  life  was  not  safe,  and 
they  fled  to  Egypt  for  safety  (Isaiah  xxx.  6,  7).  When  these 
men  had  established  themselves  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile, 
and  were  at  leisure  from  the  cares  of  life,  some  of  them  may  have 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  MOUNTAIN. 


13 


performed  the  pilgrimage  to  the  Mount  of  God,  in  Sinai,  and  cut 
pious  inscriptions  on  the  rocks.  Even  then,  or  earlier,  the  writings 
there  were  numerous  enough  to  gain  for  it  the  name  of  Sephar, 
or  the  written  mountain. 

b.c.  700,  in  the  reign  of  Hezekiah,  or  perhaps  in  the  reign 
of  his  successor,  was  written  Genesis  x.  22 — xi.  9,  containing 
a correction  to  the  original  history  of  the  descent  of  nations  from 
Noah.  Here  the  writer  describes  this  mountain  as  “ Sephar,  the 
mountain  which  was  of  old,”  thus  telling  us  that  it  was  already 
celebrated  both  for  the  early  doings  there  at  the  time  of  the 
Exodus,  and  for  the  inscriptions  which  had  been  since  cut 
there. 

At  the  same  time  Numbers  xxxiii.  1—49  may  have  been  written 
by  some  Jew,  a pilgrim  from  Egypt  to  the  holy  mount.  By 
his  geographical  accuracy  he  tells  us  that  this  mount  was 
Mount  Serbal,  overhanging  "Wady  Feiran ; and  he  gives  to  it 
the  name  of  Mount  Shephar,  which  is  only  another  way  of 
writing  Sephar. 

In  my  “ History  of  the  Hebrew  Nation  and  its  Literature,”  I 
have  given  reasons  for  thinking  that  about  the  time  of  the 
return  from  the  Captivity,  b.c.  538,  the  writer  of  the  Book  of 
Job  visited  Egypt  and  Arabia;  and  he  accurately  describes  these 
inscriptions  ou  and  near  Mount  Serbal ; and  lets  us  understand 
that  he  had  visited  the  spot,  when  he  says  in  chap.  xix.  23,  21 — 

Oh  that  my  words  were  now  engraved ! 

Oh  that  they  were  imprinted  on  [mount]  Sephar  ! 

That  with  an  iron  pen  and  a leaden  hammer 

They  were  chiselled  into  the  rock  for  ever ! 

Not  many  of  the  inscriptions  in  this  collection  can  claim  to  be 
so  old  as  the  return  from  the  Captivity  in  Babylon,  and  to  be 
those  seen  by  the  writer  of  Job.  Nor  are  our  inscriptions  from 
the  mountain  itself ; they  are  from  Wady  Mocatteb,  on  the  road 
from  Egypt  to  the  mountain.  We  must  wait  until  other  travellers 
to  this  interesting  spot  have  copied  the  inscriptions  on  the  road 
up  Mount  Serbal  from  Feiran,  and  those  on  the  summit  of  Serbal 


14 


INTRODUCTION. 


itself,  before  we  can  hope  to  see  the  oldest  of  these  Hebrew 
inscriptions.  This  publication  may  perhaps  remind  our  travellers 
of  what  a harvest  there  is  there  waiting  for  some  reapers  to 
gather.  Even  in  Wady  Mocatteb  there  remains  a gleaning  which 
should  not  be  overlooked. 

For  the  date  of  the  larger  part  of  these  inscriptions  we  have 
very  little  to  guide  us.  They  for  the  most  part  tell  us  of  the 
unhappy  condition  of  the  people  in  words  which  would  suit 
almost  any  century  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, b.c.  589  ; and  we  must  be  careful  not  to  make  too 
much  of  a word  or  two  which  seems  to  point  to  an  exact  time. 
No.  47,  however,  tells  us  that  the  people  have  been  “ removed 
far  away,”  in  the  very  words  used  in  Ezek.  xi.  15,  1G.  No.  48a 
is  a prayer  for  the  people  which  “is  not;”  and  though  such 
a word  would  equally  well  suit  the  later  destruction  of  the  city 
by  the  Romans,  yet  as  this  inscription  is  in  the  very  earliest  style 
of  character,  and  by  its  position  on  the  piece  of  rock  is  shown 
to  be  earlier  than  one  which  we  shall  give  to  the  time  of 
Nehemiah,  it  seems  to  belong  to  the  time  of  the  Captivity. 
No.  128  also  is  a prayer  for  the  nation  that  is  “driven  forth,”  and 
for  the  “city  that  remaineth.”  The  “ remainder  of  the  city”  is 
also  prayed  for  in  later  inscriptions;  but  the  two  thoughts  here 
mentioned,  taken  together,  place  it  at  the  earlier  time.  It  is  quite 
possible  that  these  inscriptions  may  have  been  written  earlier 
than  b.c.  538,  when  Cyrus  allowed  the  captives  to  return  home. 

No.  48 b,  which  is  by  a different  hand  from  that  of  No.  48a, 
already  mentioned,  and  is  therefore  of  a later  date,  is  a prayer 
for  the  “ counsel  of  the  wall,”  which  we  may  suppose  to  be 
Nehemiah’s  proposal  to  rebuild  it,  b.c.  445.  Nehemiah's  enemies 
charged  him  with  a wish  to  prepare  for  a rebellion  against 
the  Persians.  But  his  wall  was  not  one  to  oppose  an  army, 
though  it  might  keep  off  robbers,  and  allow  the  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem  to  sleep  at  night  without  fear.  The  word  here  used 
for  the  wall  is  not  that  used  in  the  Bible  for  the  fortification 
of  the  city,  and  may  have  been  chosen  to  mark  the  character  of 
Nchemiah’s  structure.  No.  31  is  also  a prayer  “to  establish 


THE  AGE  OP  THE  INSCRIPTIONS. 


15 


the  counsel.”  This  does  not  mention  the  purpose  of  the  counsel  ; 
but  it  belongs  to  a time  when  Jerusalem  was  governing  itself, 
and  is  of  the  oldest  form  of  letter,  and  probably  of  the  same 
date  as  the  last. 

During  the  three  centuries  of  quiet  which  the  Jews  enjoyed 
under  their  Persian  and  then  their  Greek  masters,  others  of  our 
inscriptions  were  probably  written;  but,  with  the  above  excep- 
tions, I can  discover  no  peculiarity  in  them  by  which  to  fix  their 
date.  But  when  troubles  came  upon  the  nation,  the  case  is 
altered.  Our  pilgrims  then  express  their  feelings  more  pointedly; 
and  we  arc  able  with  more  confidence  to  put  a date  to  their 
writings. 

No.  54  we  may  suppose  to  be  of  the  time  of  Antiochus 
Epiphanes,  whose  mad  cruelty  drove  many  of  the  Jews  to  seek 
safety  in  Egypt.  It  is  a prayer  for  “the  city  of  sighs.”  But 
a Jew  living  in  Egypt  was  not  safe  from  the  power  of  the 
oppressor;  Antiochus  overran  Lower  Egypt  for  three  years  to- 
gether, as  is  said  in  Isaiah  xx.,  where  he  is  called  the  King  of 
Assyria ; hence  our  pilgrim  expresses  his  anger  in  a guarded 
manner,  and  his  prayer  is  “ Slay  the  Buffalo.”  The  Buffalo,  in 
the  Authorized  Version  the  Unicorn,  is  a name  often  used  in  the 
Bible  figuratively  for  Egypt ; but  Egypt  is  not  here  meant.  A 
Jew’s  only  wish  for  Egypt  was  that  it  had  been  strong  enough 
to  help  them  against  their  enemies.  We  must  suppose  that 
when  the  writer  wrote  BAM,  the  buffalo,  he  meant  to  be  under- 
stood as  ARM,  the  Syrians.  In  this  guarded  way  the  writer  of 
Jerem.  xxv.  26,  threatens  the  King  of  Sheshak,  when  it  was  not 
safe  to  write  against  Babylon;  but  the  later  writer  of  Jerem. 
li.  41,  when  Babylon  was  overthrown,  explains  the  riddle.  If 
the  alphabet  is  read  backwards,  the  letters  Sh,  Sh,  K,  will  repre- 
sent B,B,L,  or  Babylon.  The  writing  the  alphabet  backwards  in 
one  case  explains  the  writing  the  word  backwards  in  the  other. 

No.  113  contains  the  prayer,  “Utterly  destroy  the  rich 
men,”  a prayer  which,  like  that  in  No.  54,  must  be  understood 
as  having  a double  meaning.  The  word  “ rich  men  ” becomes 
“ Assyrians  ” by  a change  of  the  first  letter ; and,  as  we  have 


16 


INTRODUCTION. 


remarked,  the  Greco-Syrian  kings  who  held  Syria,  Assyria,  and 
Babylonia,  are  sometimes  called  kings  of  Assyria  in  the  Bible. 

No.  2b,  with  a prayer  for  the  afflicted  nation,  adds  “ Strangle*, 
O Jehovah.'*  This  unknown  character  probably  points  to  the 
Greco-Syrians,  people  who  were  oppressing  the  Jews,  but  from 
whom  they  might  reasonably  hope  to  get  free. 

This  conjecture  is  strengthened  by  No.  71,  where  we  have  the 
same  unknown  character.  The  nation  or  the  city  is  “ a ruin 
fainting  [under  this  enemy],  profaned,  and  trodden  down.’*  In 
Psalm  lxxiv.,  which  is  of  this  time,  it  is  said, — 

Now  the  whole  carved  work  [of  the  temple]  at  once 
They  break  down  with  axes  and  hammers. 

They  have  cast  fire  into  the  Sanctuary, 

They  have  crushed  [ literally  profaned]  the  Tabernacle  of  thy  name  to 
the  ground. 

In  the  Psalm,  and  in  our  inscription,  we  have  the  same  word 
used — “ profaned.** 

No.  84  may,  perhaps,  be  of  the  same  time,  when  Antiochus 
had  in  his  violence  stopt  the  daily  sacrifices  in  the  Temple,  and 
forbidden  all  Jewish  rites,  and  had  carried  away  to  Antioch  the 
gold  and  silver  vessels  of  the  Temple,  the  altar  of  incense,  the 
lampstand,  the  table  for  the  ceremonial  bread,  the  censers,  and 
the  sprinkling  vessels.  Our  pilgrim,  praying  as  usual  for  the 
“ crushed  city,’*  adds  that  “ the  renowned  ornament  is  cut  off.** 

After  a time  the  unhappy  people  were  roused  into  rebellion  ; 
and  when  at  length  the  rebellion  was  successful,  then  we  find  one 
of  our  pilgrims  venturing  to  speak  plainly.  No.  81  is  clearly 
of  the  time  of  the  Maccabee  struggle  for  independence  against 
the  Greco-Syrian  kings,  which  began  b.c.  166.  Its  prayer  is 
“ Slaughter,  O Jehovah,  the  Syrians,**  words  which  came  very 
naturally  from  one  who  may  have  been  driven  away  from  the 
“afflicted  Jerusalem**  by  the  cruelties  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes. 
This  was  probably  not  written  till  after  the  death  of  Epiphanes, 
when,  though  the  struggle  was  not  over,  a Jew  was  at  least  safe 
in  Egypt. 

No.  91  contains  a series  of  several  inscriptions  which  belong  to 


THE  AGE  OE  THE  INSCRIPTIONS. 


17 


the  very  last  clays  of  the  straggle  for  independence,  when  the 
Greco-Syrians  were  weakened  by  quarrels  among  themselves,  and 
the  prospects  of  the  Jews  grew  brighter.  No.  91a  declares  that 
this  inscription  is  “ a print-mark  of  rejoicing.”  No.  916  says 
that  “the  guiltless  city  is  awakened,”  and  prays,  “ Clothe  it, 
0 Jehovah.”  No.  91c  prays  for  “rest  for  one  who  is  disturbed, 
the  sleeper  who  is  awakened.”  No.  91c?  prays  for  “the  sick  heap 
of  ruins,”  and  “ Help  Thou  to  beautify  the  piece  cut  short,”  or 
the  remnant.  No.  91e  says  that  “ the  heap  of  ruins  sings  for 
joy.”  The  prayer  of  No.  91/  is,  “ Raise  up  her  that  has  been 
defiled,”  a very  natural  description  of  Jerusalem  after  the  attempt 
of  Epiphanes  to  change  the  religion  of  the  country. 

After  this  we  have  a change  of  tone.  No.  91  cj,  though  on  the 
same  piece  of  rock,  may  be  a little  later.  Let  us  suppose  that,  the 
excitement  of  the  success  being  over,  time  is  allowed  to  observe 
the  state  of  affairs ; and  this  writer  says,  “ The  ruined  heap  groans.” 

"When  the  Maccabees  had  been  so  far  successful  as  to  have 
gained  possession  of  Jerusalem,  they  yet  were  not  masters  of  the 
castle.  That  fortress,  standing  on  the  rock  which  overhangs  the 
temple-yard,  was  held  against  them  for  twenty  years,  while  Judas 
and  his  brothers  were  doing  their  best  to  reduce  the  disturbed 
country  to  order.  No.  91/<  prays  for  “ the  plundered  city  on  the 
outside  of  the  rock ; that  the  bald  may  rejoice,  and  that  she  that 
has  been  set  in  order  may  be  refreshed.”  As  these  latter 
inscriptions  follow  one  another  on  the  same  piece  of  sandstone, 
their  chronological  order  is  certain. 

In  the  same  way,  No.  114a  is  on  behalf  of  “ the  lessened  portion 
of  the  crushed  city.” 

No.  21  and  No.  24  each  have  a prayer  for  “ her  that  has  broken 
free,”  meaning  that  has  broken  the  yoke;  and  No.  41  adds  that 
“ she  was  broken  off  from  a wicked  people.”  These,  then,  are  of 
the  time  of  the  Maccabee  independence. 

No.  22,  No.  82,  No.  121,  and  No.  124  all,  perhaps,  may  belong 
to  this  happier  time.  They  pray  for  the  city  which  has  been 
awakened,  purified,  and  is  to  be  set  in  order. 

In  the  year  b.c.  142  Simon  the  Maccabee  had  permission  given 

c 


18 


INTRODUCTION. 


to  him  to  coin  money;  and  he  put  upon  his  coins  the  words 
“ Shekel  of  Israel/’  written  in  the  Samaritan  characters.  He 
chose  the  letters  for  his  coins  probably  for  the  same  reason  that  he 
chose  its  name  “ of  Israel/’  because  the  leaders  of  the  Jews  were 
even  then  in  arms  against  him,  having  disapproved  of  the 
rebellion.  These  coins  of  Simon  have  hitherto  been  thought  the 
earliest  examples  of  Hebrew  writing;  but  they  must  now  give 
place  to  some  of  these  inscriptions. 

In  the  year  b.c.  135  John  Hyrcanus  succeeded  to  the  chief 
priesthood  of  Jerusalem  on  the  death  of  his  father  Simon,  who 
had  been  forced  to  pay  a yearly  tribute  to  the  King  of  Syria.  But 
John  was  yet  more  independent.  He  was  able  to  withhold  the 
tribute,  and  he  coined  money  in  the  name  of  “ John  the  high 

priest  and  the  Confederation  of  the  Jews.”  This  word,  “ the 

Confederation,”  we  find  in  two  of  our  inscriptions.  No.  29  is  on 
behalf  of  “the  bold  Confederation,”  while  No.  30  is  simply  for 
“ the  Confederation  of  Jerusalem.” 

From  the  year  b.c.  160  until  the  year  a.d.  70,  the  Jews  of 
Egypt  had  been  allowed  to  have  a temple  and  an  altar  of  sacrifice 
at  Onion  or  On,  a town  on  the  west  side  of  the  Delta.  It  is 

mentioned  in  Isaiah  xix.  19.  At  that  altar  the  writer  of  No.  178 

may  have  offered  his  lamb  to  the  priest,  and  seen  a portion  burnt 
as  a memorial  to  Jehovah,  and  then  he  calls  his  inscription  in  Wady 
Mocatteb  only  “ a part  of  the  memorial.”  He  was  an  Alexandrian 
Jew,  named  Baruk,  and  he  completes  his  inscription  by  giving  the 
names  of  his  father,  his  grandfather,  and  his  great-grandfather  in 
the  Greek  language. 

The  large  number  which  speak  of  the  city  as  a heap  of  ruins 
must  be  divided  between  the  hundred  and  fifty  years  before  the 
Christian  era  and  the  hundred  years  after  that  era,  when  the  city 
was  again  destroyed  by  the  Romans.  But  more  of  them  probably 
belong  to  the  earlier  than  to  the  latter  time,  because  under  the 
Romans  the  Jews  in  Egypt  were  not  so  free  to  make  this  pious 
pilgrimage  to  Sinai  as  at  the  former  time  under  the  Ptolemies. 
We  have  to  think  not  only  of  the  words  of  the  inscriptions,  but  of 
when  the  Jews  were  most  at  liberty  to  cut  them. 


CHRISTIAN  INSCRIPTIONS. 


19 


No  inscription  mentions  any  king  or  ruler  of  the  nation  by 
name.  The  feelings  of  the  Jews  in  the  later  days  were  not 
monarchical;  and  the  kings  who  rose  after  the  year  b.c.  106, 
and  struggled  with  one  another  for  power,  little  deserved  the 
good  wishes  of  those  who  were  anxious  for  the  welfare  of  the 
nation. 

Several  of  our  inscriptions  are  by  Christian  Jews,  as  is  seen  from 
the  symbol  of  the  cross.  These  are  No.  11  and  No.  Ill,  whose 
prayer  is  yet  for  the  nation;  No.  19,  whose  writer  may  have 
suffered  under  persecution,  as  its  words  are  “ the  fire  of  purifi- 
cation,” and  No.  8GA,  which  is  on  behalf  of  what  remains  of  the 
oppressed  nation,  and  on  behalf  of  “ the  society  [or  perhaps  sect] 
of  the  cross.” 

No  130  also  is  on  behalf  of  “ the  society  which  is  spit  upon.” 
If  we  may  be  guided  by  the  last,  and  suppose  this  particular  word 
“ society  ” to  have  gained  a special  meaning,  this  also  may  be 
supposed  to  be  the  memorial  offering  of  a Christian  Jew. 

The  writer  of  No.  85,  on  the  other  hand,  uses  the  symbol  of 
the  cross  only  to  express  his  hatred  of  it,  and  prays,  “ tread  dowm 
lying  Christianity.” 

No.  142«,  which  is  by  a Christian  Jew,  reminds  us  of  the  state 
of  Jerusalem  when  the  Apostle  Paul  in  his  missionary  journeys 
collected  alms  for  the  poor  of  Jerusalem ; it  ends  with  a prayer 
for  “ the  poor.”  No.  80a  has  the  same  prayer. 

The  writer  of  No.  138  shows  his  displeasure  at  the  conduct  of 
the  rulers  in  Jerusalem,  who  often  brought  trouble  on  their 
country,  and  on  those  Jews  who  were  living  in  Egypt,  by  attempt- 
ing a hopeless  struggle  against  their  Roman  conquerors.  He  calls 
the  city  “perverse,  cursed,  stubborn.”  In  No.  158,  the  writer, 
more  an  Israelite  than  a Jew,  or  more  citizen  of  the  world  than  a 
patriot,  speaks  of  the  “braying  of  Jesusalem.”  The  writer  of 
No.  173,  also,  does  not  approve  of  these  complaints  about  the  state 
of  Jerusalem  and  Judea.  He  blames  these  inscriptions  in  Wady 
Mocatteb,  and  writes  up  in  a neighbouring  valley,  near  to  Sarabet 
el  Khadim,  “ False  compassion.” 

Perhaps  the  most  modern  of  our  inscriptions  are  by  Gnostic 


20 


INTRODUCTION. 


Jews.  No.  25  shows  some  of  the  whimsical  peculiarities  of  that 
sect,  and  begs  for  God’s  favour  towards  “ the  he-he-he-he,  injured, 
remembered,  desired.”  This  remarkable  word,  if  we  may  judge  from 
other  Gnostic  writings,  means  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem.  It  ends 
with  a prayer  for  “ the  outside”  (perhaps  the  Jews  in  dispersion), 
and  that  “ an  answer  may  be  given  to  the  knowledge,”  or  to 
Gnosticism,  meaning  to  this  enigmatical  prayer.  No.  75  is  even 
yet  more  whimsical.  The  words  are  so  arranged  in  their  four 
lines  that  by  reading  downwards  you  can  find  hidden  in  them  the 
same  Gnostic  word,  he-he-he-lie. 

Thus  we  have  a series  of  religious  inscriptions  running  back 
from  the  early  ages  of  Christianity,  many  certainly  as  far  back  as 
to  the  time  of  the  Maccabee  revolt,  others  probably  to  the  time 
of  Nehemiah,  and  others  possibly  to  the  time  of  the  Captivity. 
They  all  bear  witness  to  one  important  fact,  that  the  Jews,  who 
were  living  in  Egypt  and  cut  these  writings  on  the  rocks,  believed 
that  Mount  Serbal  was  the  Mount  of  God  mentioned  in  the 
Pentateuch. 

Our  pilgrims  often  show  an  acquaintance  with  the  Levitical 
Law.  Thus  No.  156  describes  the  writing  as  a peace  offering. 
But  the  writer,  remembering  that  a peace  offering  was  a love  feast 
to  be  shared  with  the  worshipper's  friends  and  the  priest,  says 
that  his  inscription  in  the  desert,  at  a distance  from  his  friends,  is 
“the  peace  offering  of  a lonely  feast.”  By  the  Levitical  Law,  a 
poor  woman,  on  her  recovery  to  health  after  childbirth,  if  not  rich 
enough  to  bring  two  young  pigeons  to  the  priest,  might  bring  a 
tenth  part  of  an  ephah  of  Hour.  Of  this  humble  gift,  a memorial 
portion  only  was  burnt  on  the  altar,  and  its  ashes  cast  out  with  the 
bone  ashes  of  the  other  offerings.  Hence  the  writer  of  No.  1396 
uses  the  very  humblest  of  terms  when  he  says  that  his  inscription, 
his  memorial,  is  “ the  bone  ashes  of  a woman  who  has  been  unwell.” 
No.  114a  is  called  a “lean  peace  offering;”  and  No.  32  is  “a 
lean  portion,”  using  the  word  which  in  Leviticus  vii.  33  is  used 
for  the  priest’s  portion  of  the  animal. 

Others,  such  as  No.  113,  in  order  to  tell  us  that  the  priest  has 
not  been  forgotten,  say  the  inscription  is  “a  part  of  the  peace 


KNOWLEDGE  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


21 


offering.”  One,  No.  134,  says  that  he  has  given  “the  kneaded 
dough.”  These  may  have  been  written  while  there  was  an  altar 
and  a priesthood  at  the  city  of  Onion. 

Many  of  the  writers  show  a knowledge  of  other  parts  of  the 
Bible,  or  at  least  use  words  in  a manner  which  looks  as  if  they 
were  familiar  with  the  Scriptures.  The  writer  of  No.  27«  calls 
the  country  “a  rib;”  and  thus  copies  Daniel  vii.  5,  where  the 
three  kingdoms  conquered  by  the  Modes  are  three  ribs  in  the 
bear’s  mouth.  He  prays  for  a “white  garment”  for  the  congrega- 
tion or  nation  : this  thought  he  may  have  borrowed  from  Daniel 
vii.  9.  When  he  would  pray  for  the  anointed  priesthood  of  the 
conquered  Jerusalem,  his  words  are  “for  the  compound  of  the 
ruined  heap,”  meaning  the  sacred  oil  which  is  described  in  Exod. 
xxx.  25,  as  “ a compound  compounded  after  the  art  of  the  apothe- 
cary,” and  which  was  never  to  be  used  except  for  anointing  the 
priest.  No.  54  says  “the  righteous  people  are  willing,”  as  if  in 
answer  to  the  conditional  promise  in  Isaiah  i.  19,  “If  ye  be  willing 
and  obedient,  ye  shall  eat  the  good  of  the  land.”  No.  72  calls  the 
nation  or  city  “a  stone  to  be  desired,”  as  if  thinking  of  Psalm 
cxviii.  22,  “the  stone  which  the  builders  rejected.”  No.  1 has 
the  prayer,  “Keep  alive  the  broken  lamp  of  the  people,”  agreeably 
to  the  promise  given  to  Solomon  in  1 Kings  xi.  36,  that  there 
should  be  “ always  a lamp  for  David  my  servant  in  Jerusalem.” 
The  prophet  Amos,  in  chap.  iii.  12,  had  compared  half-ruined 
Israel  to  two  legs  and  the  piece  of  one  ear  of  a sheep  which 
were  left  when  a lion  had  devoured  the  rest;  and  No.  107, 
when  the  nation  was  yet  more  crushed,  calls  it  “the  tail  cut 
off  from  a sheep.”  Isaiah,  in  chap  xxix.  1,  calls  Jerusalem 
“the  Lion  of  God;”  and  No.  95«  prays  for  “the  ruins  of  the 
Lion.” 

Some  few  of  our  inscriptions  contain  prayers  for  the  writer 
himself,  as  No.  178,  already  mentioned;  and  two,  No.  1 and  No. 
9 6b,  join  with  themselves  their  wives,  who,  as  being  foreigners,  are 
called  friends  or  companions  : the  honourable  name  of  wife  was 
denied  to  them  by  the  Levitical  Law.  No.  144,  in  a less  religious 
spirit,  is  a memorial  from  his  “strong  camel;”  and  No.  159  is 


22 


INTRODUCTION. 


“the  peace  offering  of  his  fat  horse.”  No.  167  is  for  the  foal  of 
his  camel,  which  was  probably  then  born  in  the  desert. 


The  Pronunciation  and  Language. 

Some  peculiarities  of  pronunciation  may  be  traced  in  these 
inscriptions,  chiefly  arising  from  the  gutturals  in  the  Hebrew  lan- 
guage. The  Jews  in  Egypt  would  seem  to  have  been  less  fond  of  the 
guttural  sound;  and,  finding  it  troublesome,  they  sometimeshardened 
it  into  a consonant,  and  sometimes  neglected  it.  Thus  “On  they 
hardened  into  “QD ; and,  on  the  other  hand,  they  softened 
“yy  into  “y.  The  y they  so  far  treated  as  a vowel  as  to  use 
it  for  the  Chaldee  final  N,  in  the  words  ypy  and  yp“j  for  Npy 
and  Np~T.  As  the  harsh  Hebrew  2f  was  softened  by  the  Chaldees 
into  y,  and  p“ix  was  written  y“ix,  here  it  is  yet  further  softened, 
and  we  have  the  word  pN  twice  spelt  simply  “in.  We  have  also 
the  words  p“i  and  pp  both  softened  into  pjn  and  pyp. 

It  is  certainly  by  no  carelessness  of  the  writers  that  we  find  the 
letter  jf  often  divided  into  two  parts,  which  then  represent  the 
two  letters  pl£\  In  No.  129,  the  division  is  made  particularly 
clear  by  the  space  between  them  ; and  at  the  same  time  it  is  equally 
clear  that  the  two  letters  together  stand  for  the  one  letter  x. 
This  letter  is  supposed  to  have  had  the  harsh  sound  of  TZ ; and 
from  the  Septuagint  we  learn  that  the  Alexandrian  Greeks  treated 
it  as  S.  Fuerst,  however,  in  his  Lexicon,  has  well  shown  that 
it  was  occasionally  interchanged  with  the  p,  as  we  have  seen 
above ; and  its  form  in  these  inscriptions  tells  us  that  at  one  time 
it  had  the  sound  of  pty,  being  a compound  character  formed  by 
the  union  of  those  two. 

Another  way  in  which  the  language  was  softened  to  the  ear,  wa3 
by  the  frequent  insertion  of  the  letter  n into  the  middle  of  a 
word,  and  the  addition  of  N at  the  end.  Other  peculiarities  in 
the  words  it  would  be  rash  to  dwell  upon.  The  art  of  spelling 
had  not  then  been  reduced  to  regularity.  The  spelling  in  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures  is  by  no  means  uniform.  The  spelling  in  the 


PRONUNCIATION  AND  LANGUAGE. 


23 


English  language  did  not  become  regular  till  more  than  two 
centuries  after  the  invention  of  printing. 

As  a peculiarity  of  language,  we  may  mentiou  used  for 
the  objective  me.  As  new  examples  of  verbs  in  the  unusual  con- 
jugation Pilpel,  we  have  hn,  to  sing  triumphantly,  and  ptpt, 
thoroughly  purified.  The  doubled  form  was  used  probably  to 
strengthen  the  meaning.  The  conjugations  Hiphil  and  Niphal 
are  not  common  here. 

It  is  customary  with  the  writers  on  the  Hebrew  language  to 
produce  an  assumed  root  for  a word  which  may  not  itself  be  in 
the  form  of  a root-word.  In  some  cases  these  inscriptions  give 
us  the  root  required,  which  thus  need  no  longer  be  called 
“ assumed.”  In  No.  34,  we  have  the  word  yp  inscribe,  the 
regular  imperative  of  yyp  a root  assumed  by  Gesenius.  In 
No.  49  we  have  the  word  ppiy,  girded  with  sackcloth,  a root 
assumed  by  Gesenius  for  the  noun  pitf.  In  No.  172  we  have 
NTH1,  an(l  in  No.  125  we  have  f.n,  both  as  participles  for  cut 
down.  This  verb  had  before  been  known  only  in  the  conjuga- 
tion Hiphil.  In  No.  41,  we  have  y\D,  save,  the  imperative  of  y\ U>, 
a verb  hitherto  known  only  in  Hiphil  and  Niphal. 

In  the  natural  wish  not  to  use  more  letters  than  are  absolutely 
necessary,  the  copulative  “ and  ” is  once  only  met  in  these  inscrip- 
tions, and  the  article  “ the  ” before  a substantive  very  rarely.  It 
is,  however,  often  used  before  an  adjective,  when  it  is  to  be  trans- 
lated “ that  which  is.” 

The  Sinaitic  Alphabet. 

In  these  inscriptions  there  is  the  usual  variety  of  forms  for  each 
letter,  due  to  the  carelessness  of  the  writer,  or  of  the  sculptor 
who  cut  them  into  the  stone,  or  of  the  copier ; and  due  also  to 
the  difference  in  their  age. 

N.  We  have  two  distinct  forms  for  this  letter.  N 1 and  its 
varieties  are  the  most  common.  N 4 and  its  varieties  approach 
the  printed  letter.  N 6,  from  our  most  modern  inscription,  is  close 
to  the  printed  letter. 


INTRODUCTION. 


21 


3 is  a very  marked  letter,  except  when  it  is  made  to  face  the 
wrong  way,  when  it  approaches  the  p.  In  form  it  is  allied  to 
the  Roman  P. 

j is  nearly  the  same  as  the  printed  letter,  except  in  its  posi- 
tion ; it  lies  down. 

"7  is  nearly  the  printed  letter. 

n is  of  the  Syriac  printed  form,  except  sometimes  in  the  word 
Jehovah,  when  we  have  the  “i.  But  if  we  are  right  in  our  con- 
jecture that  in  the  sacred  name  the  “t  was  purposely  written  for 
an  unfinished  n,  it  proves  that  the  letter  n,  so  formed,  was  already 
in  use,  although  not  met  with  in  these  inscriptions. 

1 is  often  a simple  stroke,  not  to  be  distinguished  from  7,  3, 
or  \ Sometimes  it  slopes,  as  7 (3).  Sometimes  as  in  7(1)  it  is  the 
Egyptian  enchorial  letter,  copied  from  the  horned  serpent,  and 
then  it  approaches  the  y. 

7 should  be  like  the  printed  letter,  but  sometimes  it  is  a simple 
stroke,  and  sometimes  the  head  becomes  so  enlarged  as  to  give  it 
a different  character. 

n is  like  the  printed  letter,  n 4 is  reversed. 

to  is  the  same  as  “7,  and  in  one  case  a double  *7. 

> is  a simple  stroke,  and  often  not  distinguished  from  7,  T,  or  3. 
Sometimes  it  is  a long  stroke,  and  thus  very  unlike  the  printed 
letter. 

3 is  like  the  printed  letter,  except  that  when  badly  made  it 
approaches  3,  or  becomes  a simple  curved  stroke. 

b is  usually  a simple  angle  ; often  like  the  Roman  L,  though 
sometimes  it  approaches  the  Greek  small  letter. 

D is  usually  like  the  printed  final  letter.  It  is  only  in  a few 
of  the  earliest  inscriptions  that  we  have  the  initial  form.  But  no 
distinction  is  shown  in  the  use  of  these  two  characters. 

3 is  like  the  printed  letter,  but  passing  often  into  a simple 
stroke. 

D is  like  the  printed  letter. 

y is  like  the  printed  letter,  but  often  not  to  be  distinguished 
from  7. 

D is  the  same  as  3,  and  thus  of  the  form  of  the  Roman  P. 


THE  S1NA1TIC  ALPHABET. 


«v  cl 


2 ;,  when  laid  on  one  side,  is  like  the  printed  letter.  It  is  a com- 
pound letter  formed  of  \D  and  p joined  together.  But  the  two 
strokes  are  often  not  joined,  and  then  it  might  be  taken  for  pi£>. 

p is  like  the  printed  letter,  but  facing  the  other  way.  p 1 is  the 
early  Greek  Quoppa. 

I is  the  printed  letter  leaning  backwards,  but  often  a mere 
wavy  line.  ~\  4 is  from  our  most  modern  inscription. 

W is  of  two  forms;  one  is  half  the  K,  and  the  other,  which  is 
the  more  modern,  is  like  the  printed  letter. 

n is  a cross.  The  figure  of  a simple  cross  has  at  all  times 
been  used  for  a mark  or  signature ; and  in,  the  name  of  this 
old  letter,  came  in  Hebrew  to  mean  a mark,  as  in  Ezek.  ix.  4, 
and  a Signature,  as  in  Job  xxxi.  35.  Here,  when  Job  wishes 
that  the  accusation  against  him  and  his  defence  should  both  b 
in  writing,  he  says,  “ Behold  my  signature,”  my  in. 

From  the  use  of  the  letter  T as  a simple  mark,  we  gain  the 
origin  of  the  names  of  the  letters  of  the  alphabeta.  These  names 
have  remained  less  corrupted  in  Greek  than  in  Hebrew ; and 
there  we  have  Be-ta,  a mark  for  B,  Ze-ta,  E-ta,  The-ta,  Io-ta,  all 
compounded  of  Tu,  a mark.  The  L in  some  of  the  names,  aud 
the  M in  others,  may  be  the  Hebrew  prepositions  ; and  thus 
De-l-ta,  is  D for  a mark,  La-mb-da,  is  L by  a mark.  Ga-m-ta, 
G by  a mark,  was  afterwards  corrupted  into  Gimel,  a camel. 

In  addition  to  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  we  have  in  these  in- 
scriptions several  symbols.  Seven  times  we  have  a cross  the 
symbol  of  Christianity.  Four  times  wTe  have  two  short  strokes, 
thus,  =,  representing  the  sacred  word  Jehovah.  Twice  we  have 
a three-sided  character,  which  in  one  place,  and  probably  in  both, 
means  the  nation’s  oppressors.  In  two,  the  writers  have  put  un- 
known characters  for  their  own  names.  In  one,  No.  25,  there  is 
a stop  at  the  end. 


Style  of  Writing. 

There  are  no  stops  to  divide  the  sentences,  nor  even  spaces 
between  the  words.  These  helps  to  the  reader  were  not  invented 

c * 


26 


INTRODUCTION. 


till  a later  age.  Nor  does  a word  always  end  at  the  end  of  a 
line;  sometimes  one  letter  of  a word  will  be  found  in  a lower  line. 
We  note,  however,  a slight  tendency  to  the  use  of  final  letters,  of 
a shape  different  from  those  used  in  the  middle  of  a word.  Thus 
the  D and  3,  when  at  the  end  of  the  word,  are  sometimes  length- 
ened downwards.  We  also  have  a final  *i,  a wavy  line  drawn 
downwards  from  the  foregoing  letter.  But  the  same  forms  for  the 
¥ or  for  the  o are  used  whether  at  the  end  of  a word  or  else- 
where. 

Thus  more  than  half  of  our  letters  are  of  the  square  character 
as  printed,  and  these  may  safely  be  pronounced  to  be  older  than 
the  Maccabee  coins,  as  several  of  our  inscriptions  declare  them- 
selves to  be  of  the  time  of  the  Maccabee  rebellion,  and  older. 
These  inscriptions  have  thus  an  important  bearing  on  the  question 
of  the  characters  in  which  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  were  written  in 
the  time  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  Wc  must  wait  for  the  discovery 
of  earlier  inscriptions  before  we  can  learn  what  characters  were 
used  by  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  and  Ezekiel. 

Penmanship. 

Every  work  of  man’s  hand  may  be  made  with  more  or  with  less 
attention  to  neatness  and  elegance ; and  the  style  and  taste  thus 
shown  is  of  no  little  help  in  fixing  the  relative  age  of  such  works. 
The  few  inscriptions  which  we  have  here  offer  but  a small  field  for 
such  a study ; but  even  here  we  can  divide  the  writings  into 
three  groups — the  rude,  the  plain,  and  the  ornamental.  We  will 
begin  with  the  last,  as  being  most  easily  pointed  out. 

In  No.  lGi,  and  59«,  we  have  the  four  letters  of  the  word 
□nVttf  united  into  one  character.  The  □ is  strictly  rectangular; 
and  though  the  last  letter  in  the  word,  it  is  drawn  downwards 
and  backwards  so  that  the  reader  comes  upon  it  first.  The  n is 
simply  a loop  which  joins  the  other  two  letters.  The  whole  clearly 
shows  an  aim  at  elegance. 

In  No.  85,  and  No.  82,  we  have  the  same  loop  for  n at  the 
bottom  of  the  letter  "t.  As  No.  85  is  of  Christian  times,  we  gain 


PENMANSHIP. 


27 


a date  for  this  aim  at  regularity  and  ornamental  writing.  No.  27 
has  the  letters  n and  "i  both  made  very  neatly,  and  it  is  of  the 
same  late  date.  No.  75  is  another  example  of  careful  writing, 
indeed  of  doubly  careful  writing,  for  while  the  lines,  as  usual,  are 
horizontal,  the  letters  are  so  placed  that  the  Gnostic  word  he-he- 
he-he  can  be  read  downwards.  No.  11  has  a rectangular  character 
drawn  backwards,  which  I read  as  an  unformed  CD.  No.  15  has 
the  CD  large,  and  strictly  rectangular. 

In  the  book  trade  of  Alexandria,  as  we  learn  from  Eusebius 
(Eccl.  Hist.  vi.  23),  two  kinds  of  writers  were  employed.  When 
an  author  was  not  skilled  in  the  use  of  the  pen  he  employed  a 
Quick-writer  to  write  down  his  words;  but  when  his  book  was  to 
be  published  it  was  handed  over  to  a Book-writer,  who  wrote  it 
out  neatly,  and  with  regularity,  as  we  see  in  the  Greek  MSS.  of 
the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries.  The  inscriptions  quoted  above 
show  us  how  the  book-writers  of  Hebrew  in  Alexandria  at  that 
time  formed  their  letters,  and  indeed  how  they  ornamented  the 
MSS.  In  the  Greek  MS.  of  the  Bible,  known  as  the  Alexan- 
drian IMS.  in  the  British  Museum,  the  capital  letter  which  marks 
the  beginning  of  a sentence  is  not  always  the  first  letter  in  the 
word.  So  here,  when  the  word  CD^C  begins  the  sentence,  the  CD, 
not  the  C,  is  the  capital  letter. 

No.  65  is  of  a very  fanciful  character.  The  first  line  begins 
with  the  word  CD/if,  of  which  the  CD,  the  capital,  is  drawn  down 
so  as  to  be  read  a second  time  as  the  first  letter  in  the  word  ppQ, 
with  which  the  second  line  begins.  The  inscription  ends  in  the 
same  way.  The  last  letter  of  the  word  nn^il,  in  the  first  line,  is 
also  the  last  letter  of  the  word  in  the  second  line.  No.  138  has 
the  same  fanciful  arrangement.  The  same  two  words  in  the  first 
line  each  lend  the  last  letter  to  help  the  second  line.  The  only  differ- 
ence is,  that  here  the  last  letter  in  the  first  line  falls  down  into  the 
middle  of  the  second  line.  In  No.  13,  the  second  line  has  a capital 
letter  of  its  own,  and  that  not  the  first  letter.  It  is  CD  in  the  word 
CDp,  and  it  is  joined  to  the  first  word  in  the  first  line.  The  sand- 
stone rock  in  the  valley  of  Mocatteb  is  not  the  material  on  which 
fanciful  and  ornamental  peculiarities  of  penmanship  would  be  first 


28 


INTRODUCTION. 


tried ; and  we  may  be  sure  that  all  that  we  have  been  describing  was 
borrowed  from  the  book-writers  of  Alexandria.  In  particular,  the 
flourish  of  the  letters  iu  No.  138  must  have  been  copied  from 
a MS. 

The  custom  of  writing  horizontally  what  was  to  be  also  read 
vertically,  as  described  above  in  No.  75,  is  still  to  be  seen  in  some 
copies  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  In  them  the  words  are  so  care- 
fully arranged,  that  by  reading  vertically  you  can  read  the  name 
of  the  scribe  and  the  date  of  his  writing. 

These  Sinaitic  inscriptions  teach  us  that  the  Jews  in  Egypt 
rightly  understood  the  commandment  in  Exod.  xx.  4,  5,  and  did 
not  take  it  as  forbidding  representations  of  men  and  animals, 
when  not  meant  to  be  worshipped.  There  are  many  figures  on 
these  rocks.  No.  85  says,  “ Thus  tread  down  lying  Christianity 
and  it  is  surrounded  by  a number  of  figures,  which  Mr.  Grey  does 
not  describe,  which  probably  by  their  action  explain  the  word 
“ Thus.”  No.  82,  in  the  same  way,  begins  with  the  word  “ Tims,” 
and  is  accompanied  by  a crowd  of  men  and  animals,  which  are  to 
be  “ gathered  in,”  as  the  inscription  prays.  No.  144  is  in  behalf 
of  the  pilgrim’s  “ strong  camel and  beside  it  is  a figure  of  the 
animal  with  his  burden  on  his  back.  No.  167  is  on  behalf  of 
“ the  camel’s  foal,”  and  the  figure  of  the  animal  is  introduced 
into  the  middle  of  the  sentence. 

The  aim  after  the  ornamental  is  sometimes  carried  to  an  excess, 
and  of  this  we  have  an  example  in  No.  55a.  Here  we  have  a 
complex  character  of  which  the  upper  portion  is  the  word 
and  the  * is  lengthened  downwards  so  as  to  join  the  middle  letter 
in  the  word  pip,  while  the  head  of  the  letter  p seems  to  form 
the  n with  which  the  word  n^il  may  end.  In  No.  86£  the  last 
letter  in  the  word  pi  is  made  to  serve  as  the  head  to  an  animal 
there  drawn.  In  No.  117  the  first  word  has  the  middle  letter  made 
rather  tall,  and  its  top  ornamented  with  a cross,  the  mark  of  the 
writer’s  being  a Christian. 

In  No.  154  we  have  an  example  of  the  writing  being  the  worse 
for  the  writer’s  aim  at  regularity.  The  line  on  which  the  letters 
stand  hides  the  bottom  of  each,  and  makes  some  of  them  doubtful. 


PENMAXSnir. 


29 


This  line  has  made  it  necessary  to  reject  several  of  these  inscriptions, 
as  not  to  be  read  with  any  certainty. 

Of  the  work  of  the  quick-writer  No.  152  is  a good  example. 
The  letters  flow  in  wavy  curves,  and  are  yet  kept  distinct.  In  some 
of  Mr.  Grey’s  inscriptions  the  letters  are  so  much  run  together 
that  I have  not  been  able  to  disentangle  them.  In  others  it  is  not 
so  difficult.  Thus,  in  No.  2c,  the  word  □'?!£’  is  a single  character; 

is  a second,  and  is  a third.  In  No.  22  *y  and  “in 
are  each  a single  character.  In  No.  27c  ^ip  is  a single  character, 
the  same  as  that  which  is  the  lower  half  of  the  yet  more  complex 
character  in  No.  55 «.  In  No.  26  the  letters,  though  separate, 
have  a marked  slope.  It  is  unnecessary  to  give  more  examples. 

Of  plain  simple  writing  the  inscriptions  on  the  stone  No.  91 
are  a good  example.  The  letters  are  sufficiently  clear  and  well 
made,  with  no  pretence  at  ornament.  This  is  most  certainly  of 
the  time  of  the  Maccabce  revolt.  No.  29  and  No.  30,  which  I 
place  a few  years  later,  in  the  time  of  John  Hyrcanus,  are  equally 
simple  and  clear. 

Of  the  older  handwriting,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  form  of  the 
letters, -No.  31  and  No.  41  are  good  examples. 

As  writing  became  more  common,  and  the  art  of  penmanship 
more  studied,  the  form  of  each  letter  was  naturally  changed  slightly 
and  imperceptibly,  by  what  was  at  the  time  thought  no  change, 
but  only  an  improvement.  In  this  way,  after  a time,  great  changes 
have  been  brought  about ; and  though  our  Sinaitic  inscriptions 
certainly  look  very  unlike  the  Hebrew  of  the  MSS.  which  we  have 
adopted  for  printed  books,  yet  they  show  our  present  Hebrew 
letters  in  their  earlier  forms.  These  inscriptions  perhaps  range 
over  ten  centuries  ; but  there  is  then  an  interval  of  five  centuries 
more  before  we  come  to  the  MSS. 

We  have  no  Hebrew  MSS.  of  the  Bible  older  than  a.d.  900. 
Hence  we  do  not  know  when  the  irregular  letters  were  reduced  to 
their  present  uniformity  and  regularity.  But  the  art  of  penmanship 
was  much  studied  in  Alexandria  in  the  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth 
centuries;  and  the  Jews  of  that  city  are  likely  to  have  followed 
the  Greek  scribes  in  their  endeavour  to  make  their  writing  regular. 


30 


INTRODUCTION. 


It  is  much  to  be  wished  that  they  had  not  so  often  sacrificed 
distinctness  to  the  aim  at  regularity.  If  they  left  to  us  the 
sloping  1 of  these  inscriptions,  it  would  not  have  become  so  like 
the  1,  and  so  often  mistaken  for  it.  If  they  had  left  the  j lying 
down,  it  would  not  have  become  so  like  the  l and  the  3.  If 
they  had  kept  the  n and  the  n of  these  inscriptions,  they  would 
neither  have  been  so  like  the  n.  In  the  same  way  the  n would 
have  been  less  like  the  D,  and  the  □ more  distinct  from  the  D- 

With  a view  to  distinctness  and  the  reader's  convenience,  I 
have  had  the  article  and  the  prepositions  in  these  pages  printed  as 
separate  words,  and  not  as  prefixes. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  remark  that  writings  which  may  at  first 
have  been  badly  chiselled  into  the  rock,  and  then  after  two  thousand 
years  badly  copied,  may  now  be  wrongly  transcribed  into  Hebrew 
letters  and  wrongly  translated  into  English. 

A simple  stroke  has  sometimes  to  be  taken  at  pleasure  for  either 
the  >,  the  1,  the  t,  or  the  3.  If  it  has  a fork  at  the  top,  it  may  be 

either  the  1,  the  f,  or  the  y.  If  it  is  curved,  it  may  be  either  d or  3. 

If  it  is  curved  and  joined  to  the  back  of  another  letter,  it  may  be 
“)  or  3.  In  the  latest  inscriptions  there  is  no  difference  between 
“T  and  “t. 

We  often  find  the  3 i broken  into  two  characters,  which  are  very 

distinctly  to  be  read  as  one.  That  this  is  done  by  no  fault  of  Mr. 

Grey's  is  very  clearly  shown  in  No.  129.  The  lines  are  never 
broken  into  words,  and  they  thus  have  to  be  divided  at  pleasure.  But 
notwithstanding  these  sources  of  error,  it  will  be  found  that  in 
every  case  the  doubt  is  confined  within  very  narrow  limits.  Here 
and  there  a wrong  word  may  be  produced ; but  it  may  be  safely 
said  that  in  no  case  is  there  any  doubt  about  the  general  meaning 
of  an  inscription. 

Egyptian  hieroglyphics  were  seldom  correctly  copied  before  we 
had  gained  the  power  of  reading  them  ; and  now  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  future  travellers  will  both  add  to  the  number  of  these 
inscriptions,  and  remove  some  of  the  doubts  about  those  which 
we  already  have.  But  whenever  they  do  so,  I venture  to  foretell 
that  they  will  bring  home  a strong  testimony  to  the  accuracy  and 


Mtt.  GREY’s  ACCURACY. 


31 


I care  with  which  Mr.  Grey  made  his  copies  ; and  my  wish  is  that, 
while  making  his  inscriptions  useful  towards  a knowledge  of  the 
Hebrew  nation  and  its  literature,  I may  gain  for  Mr.  Grey  the 
credit  that  he  deserves,  and  that  this  volume  may  be,  to  use  the 
j words  of  the  writer  of  No.  145,  “ a memorial  to  be  tied  about 
the  neck,”  “0  milP  fTO?. 

After  these  remarks  I proceed  to  transcribe  and  to  translate  such 
of  the  inscriptions  as  can  be  read  most  safely,  and  to  add  a few 
words  on  the  peculiarities  of  each.  I am  obliged  to  omit  those 
that  are  cut  upon  a strong  line,  as  such  a line  robs  many  letters  of 
their  distinctness.  This  the  writer  may  have  drawn  upon  the  rock 
with  a view  to  make  his  letters  range  in  due  order ; but  the  work- 
man with  his  iron  pen  and  leaden  hammer  should  by  uo  means 
have  chiselled  it  into  the  rock.  They  are  here  left  in  the  order  in 
which  Mr.  Grey  published  them,  lie  probably  placed  those  first 
which  he  thought  that  he  had  copied  most  correctly.  I have  also 
used  Mr.  Grey’s  numbers,  adding  the  letters  (a),  ib),  and  (c),  when 
there  are  several  inscriptions  on  the  same  piece  of  rock ; and 
adding  the  letter  P for  his  word  “ perfect,  ” and  F for  his  word 
“ fragment.  ” 


HEBREW  INSCRIPTIONS 


FROM  THE 

VALLEYS  BETWEEN  EGYPT  AND  MOUNT  SINAI, 

TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


No.  1. 

: ir  p-i  poi  ny  p:n  b 
: in'  p-i  ay  Npi  TJ  pi 
d1?^  in  rrn 
: jn 

For  a memorial  for  Abeg,  a memorial  for  his  foreign  companion. 
Keep  alive  the  broken  lamp  of  the  people  who  are  rejected,  O 
Jehovah.  Refresh  the  smitten,  heal  the  hurt. 

In  the  first  line,  the  letters  2y  are  joined  into  one  character, 
as  are  the  p,  and  the  “IT.  The  “1  at  the  end  of  the  line 
is  a wavy  stroke  drawn  downwards,  as  in  No.  22,  and  often 
elsewhere.  In  the  second  line,  the  p“i  are  joined,  and  the  three 
letters  dbv  in  the  third  line.  A simple  stroke  stands  for  T,  1, 
and  3 alike. 

The  word  pDl  is  Chaldee  for  ]TDT.  The  name  is  not 
known.  It  may  perhaps  be  the  same  as  JUN,  which  we  have  in 
and  naH  of  Esther  i.  10,  the  names  of  two  Persian 
noblemen  in  the  court  of  Xerxes  I.  At  any  time  after  the 
reign  of  Cyrus,  a Jew  may  have  taken  a Persian  name. 

The  foreign  companion  was  probably  Abeg’s  concubine,  to 
whom  custom  did  not  give  the  title  of  wife,  as  marriage  with  a 
foreigner  was  forbidden  by  the  law  of  Deut.  vii.  3,  a law  which 
had  been  enforced  by  Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  It  is  true  that  the 
words  here  have  not  a feminine  termination.  But  in  these  inscrip- 
tions unnecessary  letters  are  usually  dropt.  In  Proverbs  v.,  love 


D 


34 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTION'S, 


for  nit,  a foreign  woman,  is  blamed.  In  Jerem.  iii.  20,  and  Hos. 
iii.  1,  the  man  living  with  a concubine  is  called  jn,  a friend,  or 
companion ; here  the  woman  is  so  called. 

For  the  word,  “VJ,  a lamp,  see  1 Kings  xi.  36,  where  Jehovah 
promises  to  Solomon  that  there  shall  always  be  a lamp  for  David 
in  Jerusalem,  lienee  “a  broken  lamp  ” is  a natural  figure  for  a 
ruined  kingdom.  The  word  XpT,  broken,  has  the  Chaldee  final 
letter,  which  is  common  in  these  inscriptions.  The  pi  is  not 
Hebrew.  If  it  is  the  Chaldee  for  the  Hebrew  pt,  to  grow  old,  it 
may  mean  allow  to  grow  old.  I render  it,  by  conjecture,  “ keep 
alive.”  The  second  line  ends  with  the  letter  n between  two  plain 
strokes.  This  word  is  better  written  in  No.  2c  and  No.  10.  It  is 
met  with  so  often  in  these  inscriptions  that  there  can  be  no  doubt 
about  its  meaning.  I render  it  Jehovah,  and  write  it  in’.  This 
agrees  with  the  Greek  historians,  who  tell  us  that  the  sacred  name 
was  pronounced  I A £2. 

In  the  third  line,  yi  is  for  ron,  smitten,  the  participle  of  rD3. 
It  refers  to  Jerusalem,  which  Ezekiel,  in  xxxiii.  21,  describes  as 
nron,  when  destroyed  by  Nebuchadnezzar. 

This  inscription  is  of  some  century  after  the  return  from  cap- 
tivity. It  may  very  possibly  be  earlier  than  the  Maccabee  revolt. 


No.  2a. 

nmp  oViy 
: n*  pi  ay 

A peace-offering  for  the  broken  pieces  of  the  rejected  people, 
O Jehovah. 

In  a rude  inscription  we  do  not  look  for  the  full  plural  termina- 
tion of  czrmp ; the  feeble  letters  are  here  often  dropt.  The  last 
word  is  written,  not  with  n of  the  Syriac  form,  as  in  No.  1,  but 
with  1.  I suppose  that  the  writer  meant  this  for  the  Hebrew  n, 
but  left  his  letter  unfinished  on  purpose,  under  the  same  feelings 
as  led  the  Jews,  at  a late  time,  not  to  utter  the  sacred  name,  nor  to 
write  it  in  Greek  letters.  But  the  word,  both  in  this  form  and  as 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


35 


in  No.  1,  is  met  with  here  too  often  to  leave  us  in  any  doubt  about 
its  meaning. 


No.  2b. 

; xnny  n nibv 
: in>  * pin 

A peace- offering  for  her  that  is  afflicted.  Strangle  *,  O 
Jehovah. 

In  XiUI?  we  have  the  Hebrew  niy,  afflicted,  made  feminine  by 
adding  the  Chaldee  termination  to  it.  Jerusalem  is  often  spoken 
of  in  the  prophets  as  an  afflicted  woman,  as  in  Isaiah  li.  21,  and 

liv.  11. 

I do  not  know  which  of  the  nation's  enemies  is  meant  by  the 
unknown  character  in  the  last  line;  possibly  the  Greco-Syrians 
under  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  not  the  Homans  under  Vespasian, 
whom  they  did  not  hope  to  conquer.  It  was  common  with  the 
Jews  in  their  oppressed  state  to  speak  of  the  oppressors  thus 
guardedly. 

No.  2c. 

: xm  a)  3’^ 

: in’  run  yp 

A peace-offering  for  the  crushed  people.  Make  happy  her  that 
is  sighing,  0 Jehovah. 

The  word  in'?  is  for  the  Hebrew  ox1?,  or  mix'?.  In  No.  6 it 
is  spelt  oi^>.  In  the  Bible  it  usually  means  a foreign  people,  but 
in  Isaiah  li.  4 it  is  the  people  of  Israel.  The  word  xm  has  the 
Chaldee  termination.  It  may  either  be  a part  of  pm,  to  crush,  or 
of  xm,  to  accept.  We  shall  meet  with  it  in  both  senses.  Here 
I prefer  the  first,  as  the  division  of  the  inscription  into  two  lines 
may  show  where  the  sentences  are  divided. 

The  verb  J3J?,  to  make  happy,  bas  been  chosen  for  alliteration 
with  the  word  which  follows.  Its  three  letters  are  united  into 


one. 


36 


SINJATIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


No.  3. 

: pm  t rot 
: ps  yi 
■ vp  an  pi 

A memorial  for  the  city  that  hath  been  emptied.  Pity  the 
oppressed.  A peace- offering  for  the  crushed  and  poor  one, 
O Jehovah.  Or  perhaps,  A small  poor  peace-offering,  O Jehovah. 

This  is  not  wholly  satisfactory. 

The  first  word  is  Hebrew,  not  Chaldee,  as  in  the  foregoing. 
The  word  *v  is  doubtful,  both  in  its  reading  and  in  its  meaning. 
It  may  be  13  for  l>3,  a lamp ; but  I prefer  to  consider  it  as  the 
same  as  l>y,  a city.  Again,  ii'l  is  doubtful,  and  pi  badly  written. 
The  verb  pn,  to  empty,  would  naturally  drop  the  feeble  letter,  and 
be  written  pi ; but  here  we  have  an  unnecessary  n between  the  two 
consonants.  This  is  frequent  in  these  inscriptions.  It  seems  to 
have  been  used  to  soften  the  roughness  of  the  Hebrew  language. 


No.  4. 

"ry  nx  n : pai 
ityn  -p  m jn  is 
: IT  pi 

A memorial.  The  lamentation  for  the  city,  which  has  been  laid 
waste,  in  misery.  Refresh  the  city  which  hath  been  left,  rejected, 
0 Jehovah. 

The  word  ns  is  for  nms,  a cry  or  lament ; m is  for  mi,  to  make 
to  breathe;  lii'n  is  the  Hiphil  of  IN* l',  to  remain.  As  iu  every 
case  all  unnecessary  letters  are  dropt,  so  the  word  i*y  of  the  first 
line  is  shortened  into  1*  in  the  second.  ( See  No.  3.) 

The  “ remainder  of  the  city  ” might  belong  to  the  destruction 
by  Nebuchadnezzar  or  that  by  the  llomans;  and  as  two  out  of 
the  four  inscriptions  which  use  those  words,  are  of  Christian  times, 
we  may  rather  suppose  that  this  also  is  of  the  later  date. 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


37 


No.  6. 

: pi  ly  ny  nn  aV?  □‘w 
: •h'b 

A peace-offering  for  the  nation  which  is  made  poor,  made  bare, 
the  crushed  city.  By  night. 

Here  the  usual  word  is  spelt  mb,  as  in  No.  55 a and 

No.  59«.  ti’ll  may  be  the  Hiphil  of  iPll,  to  be  poor.  The  double 
1 in  lip  is  a doubly  long  wavy  line.  ( See  No.  22.) 

We  may  suppose  that  the  writer  cut  this  inscription  after  dark, 
when  the  air  was  cool. 

No.  10. 

: in'  m dip  : asp  n nbtp 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  is  cut  short ; give  rest,  0 Jehovah. 

In  2 Kings  x.  32  we  have  the  same  expression  used.  When 
the  northern  kingdom  of  Israel  was  lessened  by  the  armies  of 
Syria,  “Jehovah  began  to  cut  Israel  short.”  The  word  NPp  has 
the  Chaldee  feminine  termination. 

The  word  m is  for  the  Hebrew  mi.  It  is  usually  a verb,  to  give 
rest,  and  so  used  in  No.  4 and  No.  178  ; but  it  is  used  as  a noun 
in  Esther  ix.  16,  and  2 Chron.  vi.  41. 


No.  11. 

Z3W 

pDn  n up 
: prtp  xpi  n 

A peace-offering  for  the  afflicted,  who  is  made  to  wander  about, 
who  is  guiltless,  cut  short. 

We  have  the  word  pDl  in  No.  74;  and  judging  from  the  way 
in  which  the  ft  in  No.  166,  though  the  last  letter  in  the  word,  is, 


38 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


drawn  back  to  be  the  first,  I venture  to  read  this  imperfect  character 
here  as  a O. 

In  Jerem.  xxxi.  22,  the  Jews  and  Israelites  who  did  not  return 
home  when  Cyrus  gave  them  leave  to  do  so,  are  said  to  be 
“ wandering  about,’’  and  this  word  is  there  used. 

The  cross  at  the  head  of  this  inscription  may  be  the  Egyptian 
character  for  “ life,”  but  it  was  more  probably  meant  for  the 
symbol  of  Christianity.  The  writer  would  not  have  used  a pagan 
symbol.  lie  was  a Christian  Jew. 

He  does  not  contradict  the  Jewish  opinion,  that  the  nation’s 
misfortunes  were  a punishment  for  guilt ; he  probably  means  that 
the  nation  was  “ guiltless  ” towards  its  Roman  masters.  This  may 
have  been  written  in  the  second  century,  when  the  cross  had 
already  become  a symbol  of  Christianity,  and  while  there  were  yet 
Jews  professing  that  religion. 

No.  13. 

: r6n  ppi  my 
: w jnv  b>2  pm  zip 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  is  made  bare,  broken  to  pieces,  cast 
off:  Raise  up  the  broken  lest  she  die,  0 Jehovah. 

Or  the  first  line  might  read  as  nbilp  p"b  as  if  “the  assembly  ” 
were  naked,  broken  to  pieces.  But  the  above  is  to  be  preferred. 
In  Micah  iv.  7 we  have  the  verb  x!?n,  to  cast  off,  to  remove  far  off; 
or  our  word  may  be  the  adverb  n^Vn,  beyond.  In  pm  the  middle 
letter  is  not  wanted.  The  Hebrew  word  is  pi,  pn,  or  pn ; but 
here  the  cases  are  frequent  in  which  the  letter  n is  inserted.  The 
word  yu*  is  remarkable;  for  in  these  inscriptions  the  feeble 
letters  are  usually  dropt.  If  we  divide  the  words  differently,  and 
read  JTU  >b2,  we  equally  have  to  note  the  unusual  presence  of  the 
feeble  letter.  The  □ in  the  second  line  is,  for  ornamental  reasons, 
joined  to  the  if  in  the  line  above.  This  may  be  compared  to  the 
ornamental  □ in  No.  1GZ>. 

The  artistic  taste  shown  on  any  ancient  monument  is  often  good 
evidence  of  its  date ; and  the  neat  shape  of  the  letter  D gives  to 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


39 


this  inscription  a late  date,  at  least  not  before  the  rise  of 
Christianity. 

No.  1 4. 

: w p~i  ipv  np  ry  : 

A peace-offering.  Strengthen,  raise  up  her  that  is  bound, 
rejected,  0 Jehovah. 

The  second  word  Tjf  may  be  taken  as  the  imperative  of  ny,  to 
strengthen.  The  word  ~\py  is  Chaldee;  it  is  also  used  in  Gen. 
xxii.  9. 

No.  15. 

: p n z^bv 

: pp 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  is  cut  short ; a peace-offering 
for  her  that  has  been  torn  to  pieces. 

We  have  the  first  prayer  in  No.  10,  and  the  last  word  in  No.  99a. 
In  the  first  line  the  writer  seems  to  have  omitted  the  letter  b in 
the  first  word  by  mistake,  and  then  to  have  added  the  second  line 
to  correct  the  first,  unless,  perhaps,  the  side  of  the  CD  lengthened 
upwards  may  be  the  b.  In  No.  16c  a mistake  has  been  corrected 
in  the  same  way.  In  both  lines  the  is  unformed,  and  looks  like 
the  two  letters  pty.  But  the  meaning  of  the  whole  justifies  our 
reading.  This  fault  of  breaking  the  n into  two  characters  is  very 
common.  The  ”i  in  pp  hangs  down  below  the  foregoing  letter. 

No.  16a. 

: VP  n 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  has  been  cut  short. 

This  is  the  same  as  in  No.  15,  but  in  neither  of  them  have  we 
the  Chaldee  feminine  termination  which  we  have  in  No.  10. 


40 


SIN  ATTIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


No.  164. 

: ynp  ro* 

: api  p^u 
: nn^ 

A memorial  for  her  that  is  awakened.  She  that  is  broken  in 
pieces  crieth  aloud.  A peace-offering. 

The  first  letter  in  rm  a memorial,  is  wanting ; the  stone  had 
been  broken.  From  the  same  cause  the  first  letter  in  the  second 
line  is  doubtful.  The  word  ynp  may  be  from  yjfp,  cut  short ; or 
it  may  mean  awakened,  as  in  No.  91.  I prefer  the  latter  because 
of  the  next  clause. 

The  CD  in  the  third  line  is  enlarged  ornamentally,  and  drawn 
backwards,  as  in  No.  59;  the  n is  a loop  between  the  last  two 
letters. 

The  word  tfpn,  broken  in  pieces,  may  point  to  Daniel  vii.  7, 
where  the  fourth  beast,  the  Greco- Syrian  monarchy,  is  said  to 
devour  and  break  in  pieces  its  oppressed  subjects.  We  shall  see 
that  the  writer  of  No.  21a  had  also  been  reading  the  Book  of 
Daniel. 

Like  No.  91,  this  would  seem  to  belong  to  a time  when  the 
nation  had  been  roused  to  resist  its  Greco- Syrian  oppressors. 


No.  16c. 

: pi  ai:  pi  m n pin 

: in' 

A memorial  for  her  that  is  trampled  on,  ground  down,  cast  out, 
destroyed,  broken  to  pieces.  The  city  hath  passed  away. 

There  is  not  much  that  is  doubtful  in  this  remarkable  inscrip- 
tion, except  in  the  second  clause,  which,  however,  is  very  clearly 
written.  The  writer’s  evident  love  of  alliteration  helps  us,  though 
it  may  have  cramped  him.  The  first  two  letters  in  |1D1  are 


TllANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


41 


joined,  or  rather  transposed.  The  i in  Tl,  and  the  same  in  my 
are  badly  formed. 

From  □ m,  a hand-mill,  Gesenius  gets  nm,  to  grind,  which 
may  give  us  our  word  m,  ground  down.  Or  we  may  read  it  as 
the  verb  Refresh,  at  the  beginning  of  a new  sentence,  Refresh  her 
that  is  cast  out.  In  my  we  have  the  Niphal  of  the  verb  HQl,  to 
destroy.  This  is  an  unusual  case  of  an  inscription  keeping  the 
feeble  inflection. 

In  No.  3,  and  several  times  elsewhere,  I have  taken  *y  to  mean 
“)>y,  the  city.  The  writer  here,  being  dissatisfied  with  that  way  of 
spelling  the  word,  has  written  it  a second  time  as  “in'.  This  goes 
far  to  confirm  our  conjecture,  as  neither  way  of  spelling  the  word 
is  quite  right.  In  Hosea  xiii.  3,  and  Eccl.  i.  4,  the  verb  “j^rt  is 
used  absolutely,  as  here,  for  passing  away,  ceasing  to  be. 

Our  inscription  would  suit  either  the  time  of  Antiochus 
Epiphanes,  or  when  the  city  was  more  completely  destroyed  by 
the  llomans. 


No.  17a. 

: n*A  ft  ■ NSiip 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  is  cut  short,  favour  the  despised  one. 

The  letter  ¥ is  here  broken  into  two  pieces.  This  is  often  the 
case,  and  shows  that  it  is  not  the  fault  of  the  copy. 

No.  \7b. 

■ vp  n p = * pyi  : y chut 

A peace-offering  for  the  ruined  heap.  Jerusalem  calls  aloud. 
Make  her  that  is  cut  short  to  rejoice. 

Here  the  second  word  is  doubtful,  because  its  last  letter  is 
joined  to  the  following  word.  But  our  reading  is  supported  by 
No.  18. 

The  two  strokes,  which  I write  as  »,  and  read  as  meaning 


4 2 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


Jerusalem,  occur  too  often  in  these  inscriptions  to  leave  us  in 
doubt  about  the  meaning.  It  was  only  natural  for  the  pilgrims  to 
save  the  trouble  of  cutting  so  long  a word  on  stone,  and  one  which 
is  used  by  so  many.  If  our  word  "v  is  allowed  to  mean  city,  then 
»*  may  be  the  two  first  letters  of  *y,  the  city  of  Jerusalem. 

But  the  meaning  of  the  two  strokes  is  more  certain  than  this 
explanation. 


No.  18. 

: vp  n p -ny  : am  y obv 

A peace-offering  for  the  sick  ruin;  give  help ; make  her  that  is 
■ cut  short  to  rejoice. 

The  last  letter  in  the  line  is  doubtful.  The  “i  in  "ity  is  drawn 
downwards,  as  a waving  stroke  at  the  bottom  of  the  foregoing 
letter,  as  in  No.  1,  No.  43,  No.  142a,  and  twice  in  No.  22. 
Such  flourishes  in  the  letters  show  that  they  were  drawn  upon 
the  stone  first  with  a brush  rapidly,  and  afterwards  cut  labori- 
ously with  an  iron  style  and  a mallet.  For  the  word  ”|ty,  see 
No.  2 7c. 

This  inscription  and  the  last  suit  very  well  with  the  time  of 
the  Maccabee  revolt,  a time  of  hope,  but  when  the  city  had  been 
reduced  to  a heap  of  ruins. 


No.  19. 

: p?  WN 

This  is  followed  by  a Christian  cross. 

A peace-offering  for  one  purified  by  fire ; or  of  the  fire  of 
purification. 

There  is  here  no  word  of  enmity  to  Christianity,  as  in  No.  85  ; 
and  it  may  have  been  written  by  a Christian  Jew  in  the  second 
century,  as  were  probably  No.  11,  and  No.  Ill,  and  others. 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


43 


No.  21. 

: p“iD  n aVit* 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  has  broken  free. 

This  may  be  safely  read  by  the  help  of  No.  24,  where  the  first 
two  letters  are  better  formed.  The  n is  upside  down.  The  D is 
the  same  as  2 in  No.  17  ; and  so  throughout  these  inscriptions. 
There  is  only  one  character  for  the  two  letters. 

The  verb  pnn,  to  break  in  pieces,  is  in  later  times  used  for 
breaking  the  yoke  or  making  free.  The  change  may  be  explained 
by  Gen.  xxvii.  40,  l^p  np”)D,  thou  shalt  break  his  yoke.  The  later 
meaning  is  seen  in  Lam.  v.  8,  which  may  be  of  the  time  of 
Antiochus  Epiphaues,  “ there  is  none  that  doth  deliver  us ; ” and 
in  Psalm  cxxxvi.  24,  “ he  hath  rescued  us  from  our  oppressors.” 
This  Psalm  may  have  been  written  when  the  nation  had  gained 
its  independence  under  the  Maccabees;  and  to  that  time  I should 
give  this  inscription,  and  No.  24. 

No.  22. 

: np  'p  in  = 

■ pip  by  n Tp  p 
in1? 

= DID 

A peace-offering.  Favour  the  crushed  ruined  heap  of  ruins. 
Establish  the  city  that  was  cursed,  unjustly  treated,  pressed  down. 
The  horses  are  weary. 

The  2f  is  divided,  and  might  be  read  as  pti> ; but  this  would  not 
help  the  difficulty.  We  have  a p unexplained.  The  word  pjn 
is  not  Hebrew,  but  we  must  understand  it  as  the  softened  form  of 
fjn.  We  have  the  same  in  No.  130  ; and  in  No.  121  we  have 
^Xp  softened  into  pjfp. 

The  second  line  ends  with  a doubtful  word. 

In  No.  55 a,  np  is  a substantive,  the  same  as  >p.  In  Ezek. 
xxi.  27,  nip  is  a substantive;  but  in  Isaiah  xxiv.  1,  it  is 


44 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


a verb.  Here  I take  it  as  a participle.  I take  “in  as  the  same 
as  tin,  cursed,  and  by,  as  perhaps  unjustly  treated. 

In  the  third  and  fourth  lines  we  have  two  forms  of  the 
letter  1 which  circumstance  throws  a doubt  on  the  first  of 
them.  The  word  DID,  as  a collective  noun,  may  have  a plural 
verb. 

The  writer  may  have  had  several  beasts  with  him,  to  carry 
himself,  his  tent,  and  perhaps  his  servants.  lie  probably  means 
that  the  horse  was  tired  of  standing  in  an  inconvenient  place, 
while  the  writer,  sitting  on  his  back,  was  chiselling  his  in- 
scription on  a lofty  piece  of  rock. 

The  word  “ establish  ” would  seem  to  say  that  no  struggle 
for  freedom  was  now  being  made.  Tiiis  seems  to  belong  to  the 
time  when  the  Maccabees  had  gained  independence. 

No.  t?3. 

pi  nr  v~ot 
: wp  api  d y " 

This  is  a memorial  for  guiltless  Jerusalem,  the  people  cast  out 
like  stidtble  or  chaff. 

The  last  two  letters  in  the  well-known  first  word  arc  united.  It 
is  rare  to  meet  with  a pronoun  as  we  do  here.  As  in  No.  1 1,  the 
nation  is  called  guiltless.  In  Nos.  13  and  14  I have  rendered  p“i 
as  crushed  and  rejected.  In  Jerem.  xiii.  24,  the  people  are  to 
be  scattered  as  “ chaff  before  the  wind.”  The  same  word  is  here 
used. 

No.  24. 

: pais  nbv 

: 11'  pi  "JIN 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  has  broken  free ; lengthen  the  small, 
O Jehovah. 

The  first  word  in  the  second  line  is  doubtful ; but  it  is  more  clear 
in  Ur.  Lcpsius’s  copy.  We  have  the  word  in  No.  2.1,  and  No.  26. 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


45 


Sec  No.  21  for  the  word  p~iD-  This  inscription  and  that  may 
be  of  the  time  of  the  successful  revolt  of  the  Maccabees,  which 
began  b.c.  166. 


No.  25. 

= "in  my  mi  ynp  tin 
"ran  "idt  y~i  nnnn  n b ym 
nyi  n my  yin  n an 


Lengthen  the  wretched  piece  cut  off  of  the  congregation  that  is 
cursed.  Show  favour  to  the  he-he- he-lie,  injured,  remembered, 
desired.  Raise  up  the  outside  ; answer  the  Knowledge,  O Jehovah. 

We  might  render  the  last  clause  Knowledge  or  Gnosticism  is 
afflicted,  but  the  parellelism  with  the  foregoing  clause  rather 
justifies  the  above.  It  probably  means  “ Give  answer  to  the 
enigmatical  Gnostic  prayer.” 

The  last  word  in  the  first  line  has  an  x of  the  form  of  the 
printed  letter  ; it  ends,  however,  with  a wavy  “i  drawn  downwards, 
as  in  No.  22.  The  second  line  begins  with  ”i,  of  the  printed 
form.  The  word  “ot  also  has  the  same  “i,  although  in  the  other 
inscriptions  that  letter  is  not  so  formed.  The  b is  of  a Greek  form. 

The  sign  for  Jehovah  is  followed  by  a bar  for  a stop,  as  also, 
perhaps,  is  the  word  "1017-  These  perhaps  are  the  only  places 
where  a stop  is  used. 

The  congregation  is  the  nation,  or  perhaps  the  governing  body 
in  Jerusalem,  of  which  only  a wretched  portion  now  remains.  In 
Esther  x.  3,  the  preposition  b follows  the  verb  run,  as  bere,  but 
with  a different  force.  Of  the  five  letters  which  follow,  the  first  is 
of  a rather  different  form  from  the  others ; hence  I take  it  for  the 
article,  and  leave  the  other  four  to  form  a Gnostic  enigmatic  word, 
he-he-he-hc.  The  word  pin,  the  outside,  may  mean  the  wanderers 
at  a distance.  The  last  word.  Knowledge,  again  tells  us  that  this 
is  by  a Gnostic  Jew,  who  is  proud  of  his  yvwaig,  knowledge,  or 
science,  which  the  Apostle  Paul  speaks  contemptuously  of,  in 


4G 


SINA1TIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


1 Tim.  vi.  20 — “the  antitheses  or  oppositions  of  science,  falsely 
so  called.55 

The  “ Pistis- sophia,55  a Gnostic  treatise  of  the  third  or  fourth 
century,  written  by  an  Egyptian  Christian,  tells  us  that  the  name 
of  God  was  written  aax  wiow,  the  name  of  Jesus  iu.  This 
seems  to  be  explained  as  perhaps  for  Fifius.  The  Holy  Ghost 
was  \ f/ff,  perhaps  for  ttvsv/ux.  The  Trinity  was  aaxa,  aacta, 
aaoLot..  From  such  whimsical  reasoning  as  this,  I venture  to 
conjecture  that  our  four  letters  nnnn  mean  ^o>n,  the  temple  of 
Jerusalem,  which  may  well  be  called  “ injured,  remembered, 
desired  ;55  as  the  inscription  was  written  after  the  destruction  of 
the  city  by  Titus  in  a.d.  71. 

This  would  seem  to  be  among  the  most  modern  of  our  in- 
scriptions. It  has  both  the  N and  the  n of  the  form  used  in  the 
MSS.,  and  it  throws  important  light  on  the  progress  of  the  writing 
towards  our  present  letters. 


No.  26. 

am  in  "PN 

Lengthen,  show  favour,  accept. 

The  first  word  here  is  the  same  as  in  No.  25;  but  its  last  letter 
here  has  the  final  form  "],  which  is  not  usual. 

No.  27a. 

■■  in  >y  xnpm  in  yby  by 
■■  mm  s*,:7  mp  y 

For  the  rib.  Favour  the  anointing  oil  of  the  ruin  that  has  been 
cursed.  For  the  congregation  a white  [ garment , of  holiness ]. 

The  letters  here  are  peculiar,  but  mostly  very  distinct.  In  the 
first  line  by  is  one  character.  The  n and  the  ~i  are  ornamentally 
made.  In  the  second  line  there  is  an  unfortunate  flaw,  and  the  1 
is  doubtful.  The  y at  the  beginning  of  the  second  line  may  be 
for  the  preposition  by,  as  elsewhere. 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


47 


If  our  pilgrim  had  been  reading  Daniel  vii.  5,  he  may  perhaps 
have  considered  the  unfortunate  Judea  as  one  of  the  three  ribs 
which  the  bear  had  devoured.  The  holy  anointing  oil  of  Exodus 
xxx.  25,  literally  the  “compound  compounded  after  the  art  of  the 
apothecary/'  which  might  not  be  used  except  for  anointing  the 
priests,  may  here  be  taken  to  mean  the  priesthood.  The  flaw  in 
the  second  line  we  may  fill  up  by  conjecture,  and  I read  Ni£”Q^  a 
garment , giving  to  the  word  its  Chaldee  form.  We  may  support 
this  conjecture  by  supposing  that  our  pilgrim  had  been  further 
reading  Daniel  vii.  9,  where  a “ white  garment " is  mentioned  as 
worn  by  the  Ancient  of  days. 

No.  2 7b. 

■ vp  n1?  n chw 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  is  weary,  cut  short. 

The  word  r6  may  be  for  nxb.  The  letters  are  remarkably 
well  made.  Or  we  may  read  ri/H  as  one  word,  cast  off,  as  in 
No.  13. 

No.  2 7c. 

~n  VP 

■ t -try  : any  y 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  is  shortened  in  her  generation, 
the  ruined  heap  of  ruins.  Help  the  city. 

See  No.  22  for  the  words  “ruined  heap  of  ruins;’'  and  see 
also  No.  18,  where  we  have  “a  sick  ruin." 

The  three  letters  “W37,  of  exactly  the  same  form,  end  the  first 
line  in  No.  1,  but  we  divide  them  there  into  two  words.  For 
T,  sec  No.  16c,  &c. 

No.  28. 

Nijnp  pDT 

: = p1?!  cbw 

A memorial  for  her  that  is  cut  short.  Heal  the  persecution,  O 
Jehovah. 

The  words  at  the  beginning  of  each  line  are  joined  ornamentally. 


48 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTION'S, 


I understand  CDty  as  a mistake  for  unless  perhaps  the  b is 

to  be  borrowed  from  the  group  of  letters  above.  The  in  is 
of  a Greek  form,  as  in  No.  13  and  No.  25.  The  two  strokes  = 
I take  to  mean  Jehovah,  as  in  No.  25.  They  end  the  inscription, 
and  must  be  distinguished  from  the  »,  which  mean  Jerusalem. 

The  verb  pH  to  burn,  and  pursue  hotly,  in  Ps.  vii.  13,  and 
x.  2,  means  to  persecute.  The  latter  is  a late  Psalm,  as  is  probably 
the  former. 


No.  29. 

Y”>  : NUtt  "03  nbz> 

■ in'  ~m  np 

A peace-offering  for  the  bold  Confederation;  accept  my  city 
that  hath  been  trampled  on,  O Jehovah. 

In  the  first  line  we  may  read  Nfpj,  bold,  like  tyil  of  Isaiah  xxxiii. 
19,  from  up,  to  be  strong. 

I understand  13D  to  be  the  same  as  “On,  a confederation,  or 
republic,  the  word  used  by  John  Hyrcanus  on  his  coins.  He 
governed  Judea  as  an  independent  sovereign  from  b.c.  135  to 
b.c.  106,  as  chief  priest  for  the  Confederation  of  the  Jews.  See 
Madden’s  “ Jewish  Coinage.”  Our  inscription  may  be  of  that  time. 


No.  30. 

: * 133  abv 

A peace-offering  for  the  Confederation  of  Jerusalem. 

This  is  a fragment ; the  final  stroke  may  perhaps  be  meant  for 
a stop.  We  have  a stop  at  the  end  of  No.  25. 

This  confirms  our  word  Confederation  in  No.  29,  because  its 
simplicity  forbids  our  giving  to  “QD  its  other  meaning  of  already, 
now  at  length. 

Our  two  inscriptions  must  be  of  about  b.c.  130. 


translated  and  explained. 


49 


No.  31. 

: "03  n n1?® 

: yy  13 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  is  nipped  off,  made  strange. 
Establish  the  counsel. 

The  “i  at  the  end  of  the  first  line  hangs  down  below  the  fore- 
going letter. 

The  word  p^D  is  known  only  in  Leviticus  i.  15,  and  v.  8.  for 
nipping  off  the  head  of  a bird,  and  may  well  be  used  figuratively 
for  the  fallen  nation.  We  have  the  “counsel”  spoken  of  in 
No.  48 b.  This  l venture  to  consider  as  one  of  the  oldest  in  the 
collection.  The  letters  Q,  n,  and  p are  peculiar.  It  may  have 
been  written  when  Judea  was  under  the  mild  government  of  the 
Persians,  perhaps  about  tbe  time  of  Nehemiah.  The  complaint 
is  but  slight  that  the  city  or  country  has  been  “ made  strange.  ” 
Jeremiah,  in  xix.  4,  makes  the  same  complaint  against  foreign 
customs.  The  prayer  “ Establish  the  counsel  ” is  explained  in 
No.  485,  as  being  the  counsel  or  proposal  to  rebuild  the  wall  of 
Jerusalem,  unless  we  take  it  as  the  timber  which  Nehemiah  had 
from  the  king’s  forest  for  the  purpose.  SeeNehem.  ii.  8.  The 
word  bears  either  meaning.  The  inscription  shows  satisfaction 
with  the  state  of  affairs  at  home. 

No.  32. 

: p"t  y in  p obty 

A peace-offering,  a lean  portion,  for  the  crushed  city. 

The  word  p is  for  mn  ; ]n  is  allied  to  fin,  leanness.  I take 
~\y  for  city,  as  in  No.  1 33  and  elsewhere ; and  y for  the  preposi- 
tion by,  as  in  No.  76  and  elsewhere. 

The  writer,  remembering  the  more  literal  meaning  of  the  word 
“ peace-offering,  ” that  of  an  animal  or  portion  of  food  for  the 
priest,  calls  his  inscription  “ the  lean  portion  of  a peace-offering.” 
In  Levit.  vii.  33,  this  word  mD,  a portion,  is  used  for  the  priest’s 
share  of  the  animal  brought  to  the  altar. 

E 


50 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


No.  34. 

: idw  yp  in  nbn 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  is  trampled  on.  Inscribe  His  name. 

For  m,  as  in  No.  29,  we  here  have  Tp,  which  I consider  a 
mistake.  The  known  word  ypyp,  a mark  ( see  No.  9 Iff),  is 
supposed  to  come  from  yip,  to  make  a mark.  Here  we  have  it 
in  the  imperative  mood. 

No.  3 6a. 

: 2b  yin  n p-n  : idd  nbv 

A peace-offering  for  His  throne.  Shoot  at  the  wicked  of  heart. 

The  complex  character  which  I venture  to  unravel  and  read  as 
need  not  be  considered  doubtful.  In  Exod.  xvii.  16,  the 
nation  is  called  “the  hand  upon  the  throne  of  Jah  ” ; and  thus 
Jerusalem  may  be  styled  Jehovah’s  throne,  and  be  here  meant.  To 
understand  p~n  as  meant  for  -p*T,  to  shoot,  is  allowable.  The  b 
is  of  the  Greek  form,  and  the  inscription  one  of  the  more  modern. 

No.  366. 

: pb  im  p : nbn 

A peace-offering.  Make  the  watch-tower  which  has  been  smitten 
to  rejoice. 

This  is  not  satisfactory.  The  letter  p had  been  badly  cut,  and 
it  joins  the  upper  line.  Hence,  I conjecture  that  the  two  last 
letters  have  been  cut  again,  and  very  clearly.  We  may  take  p^> 
for  the  Chaldee  npV,  bruised,  or  from  the  Hebrew  ppb,  to  be  licked 
up,  as  blood. 


No.  37. 

bn  : p:  Tp  y y obn 

: nib  p : by  « rr 

A peace-offering  for  the  utter  ruins  of  the  guiltless  city ; 
prosper  the  injured  Jerusalem  ; make  the  people  to  rejoice. 

The  last  word  in  the  first  line  is  finished  in  the  second  line. 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


51 


The  three  letters  between  the  1 and  the  □ in  the  second  line 
are  each  a simple  stroke ; yet  the  words  are  scarcely  doubtful. 


No.  38. 

vriy  yi  vi  rnpp  21  ny 
: w pn 

The  people  is  sacrificed,  ensnared,  trodden  down,  crushed, 
blighted,  0 Jehovah. 

The  word  piTTfty  is  divided  between  the  two  lines.  I take  it  for 
blighted,  on  the  supposition  that  its  last  letter  has  been 
made  to  face  the  wrong  way,  and  is  to  be  read  as  rp 


No.  40. 

Tin  ]ty 

: pn  ip  ” par 

Change  the  girding  of  sackcloth  for  Jerusalem,  the  rejected 
city. 

The  second  letter  in  pat  is  doubtful,  but  the  word  may  be  read 
by  the  help  of  No.  157,  where  it  is  clearly  written.  The  verb 
Tin  in  Chaldee  is  to  surround.  We  have  nearly  the  same  words 
also  in  No.  49.  For  l>p  we  have  Ip,  as  in  No.  56. 


No.  41. 

oi3  nb  n nbar 
: yi  oy  a 
: in'  pi  yv 

A peace-offering  for  the  nation  which  has  broken  free  from  a 
wicked  people.  Help  the  rejected,  O Jehovah. 

See  No.  21  and  24  for  the  word  plD.  In  Lam.  v.  8,  it  is 


52 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


followed  by  the  preposition  D,  as  here.  This  is  badly  written,  or 
rather  of  an  early  date ; the  TS  is  reversed,  but  no  part  is  doubtful. 

I take  yw  as  the  imperative  of  yz»,  to  save,  a verb  known  to  have 
existed  from  its  remaining  forms. 

This  is  probably  of  the  time  of  the  Maccabees.  We  have  the 
D of  the  early  form,  as  in  No.  31.  The  letters  id  are  united,  as 
in  No.  4-1. 


No.  43. 

nhv 
1N3  n D1V 
: pi  pn 

A peace-offering  for  the  bed  devoted  to  destruction,  the  scanty 
allotment. 

The  n at  the  end  of  the  second  line  is  a wavy  line  drawn 
downwards.  The  Hebrew  ttn y,  a bed,  is  in  Chaldee  Diyt. 

This  figure  of  speech  is  used  by  Isaiah  in  Ch.  xxviii.  20, 
to  describe  the  nation’s  crippled  state  when  overrun  by  the 
Assyrians : — 

“ For  the  bed  is  too  short  for  a man  to  stretch  himself,  and  the 
covering  too  narrow  to  wrap  himself.” 

In  ] Kings  xxii.  35  p>n  is  the  hollow  or  bosom  of  the  chariot ; 
so  here  pn  may  mean  the  hollow  of  the  bed,  while  D"iy  is  the 
frame.  But  I have  left  the  usual  rendering  of  the  word,  as  above. 


No.  44. 

: xn~Q  httnp  cbv 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  is  cut  short,  that  has  been  made  to 
flee  away. 

The  first  and  the  second  N are  not  of  the  same  form.  But  they 
are  both  clear,  and  thus  we  see  that  both  forms  were  in  use  at  the 
same  time. 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


53 


No.  45. 

pv  T cb& 

: tv  pi  ” 

A peace-offering  for  the  afflicted  city  Jerusalem,  the  rejected 
people,  O Jehovah. 

As  in  No.  3,  and  elsewhere,  I take  "v  as  city  for  “vjt.  The  py 
would,  by  Amos  ii.  1 3,  mean  pressed  down  as  by  a weight ; in 
Chaldee  it  is  afflicted.  See  No.  110  for  the  same  word.  But  see 
No.  104,  where  we  have  the  word  pf,  purified,  which  may  possibly 
be  the  true  reading  here. 

The  word  V is  clearly  city  here  and  in  No.  76 ; and  whether  it 
be  considered  an  original  word,  or  a corruption  of  vy,  in  either 
case  it  may  furnish  an  etymology  for  Jerusalem.  We  may  con- 
sider as  1',  the  city  of  Salem. 

No.  46. 

: in'*  pb  n pv  pty  in  : nbty 

A peace-offering ; favour  the  one  humbled, pressed  down,  that  was 
licked  up,  0 Jehovah. 

Of  the  various  meanings  which  can  be  given  to  pt£>,  it  is  best  to 
take  the  Chaldee  pity,  humbled,  and  to  consider  it  a participle, 
grouped  with  those  which  follow  it,  for  alliteration  sake.  The 
first  letter  in  py  is  here  plain,  and  it  confirms  our  reading  in 
No.  45.  In  1 Kings  xxi.  19,  and  xxii.  38,  the  verb  pp^>  is  used 
for  dogs  licking  up  the  blood  of  one  slain. 

No.  47. 

: pm  pn  pi  py  cbw 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  is  pressed  down,  broken,  cast  out, 
removed  far  away. 

The  middle  letter  in  the  last  word  is  of  an  unusual  form  ; but  in 


54 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


Ezek.  xi.  15,  16,  pm  is  used  for  removed  far  away  t rom  Jerusalem. 
This  word  may  possibly  here  point  to  the  Captivity  in  Babylon  ; 
when,  after  the  Return,  a large  part  of  the  nation  remained 
scattered.  The  other  words  we  have  in  No.  16c  or  No.  46. 


No.  48 a. 

: yi  in  : *n  *vy  ib  n ny  nbv 

A peace-offering  for  the  people  which  is  not,  for  the  city  which  is 
trampled  on;  favour,  accept. 

The  two  characters  in  the  second  line  I understand  as  an  attempt 
to  make  the  word  *vy  more  plain. 

The  word  lb  is  for  the  more  usual  Nb,  not. 

This  is  on  the  same  piece  of  rock  with  the  following,  and  is  of 
the  same  style  as  to  the  form  and  size  of  the  letters.  But  being 
above  the  following  one,  it  is  older  than  that,  and  thus  older 
than  No.  31,  both  which  we  give  to  the  time  of  Nehemiah. 
This,  therefore,  may  be  of  the  time  of  the  Captivity,  when  the 
Jews  were  not  a people. 


No.  486. 

: w arrow  rroy  n nbw 

A peace-offering  for  the  counsel  relating  to  the  wall,  0 Jehovah. 

The  letter  jf  having  been  badly  formed  at  first,  a second  letter 
has  been  cut  over  it  to  remove  doubt. 

The  word  nity  may  be  either  wood  or  counsel.  We  have  it  in 
No.  31. 

The  word  Nnii'N  1 take  as  the  Chaldee  nii'X,  a wall,  derived  from 
the  Hebrew  verb  rvt£>,  to  set  up,  or  set  fast.  It  may  refer  to 
the  wall  of  Jerusalem,  and  possibly  our  inscription  may  be  of  the 
time  of  Nehemiah,  who  rebuilt  the  wall.  The  use  of  this  particular 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


55 

word,  instead  of  the  more  usual  word  rtDin,  a wall,  may  even  be 
explained  by  the  history  of  the  times.  When  Nehemiah  had  leave 
to  build  the  nDin,  or  wall,  for  the  protection  of  the  inhabitants 
against  robbery,  there  was  great  jealousy  against  him,  as  if  he  were 
wishing  to  fortify  the  city.  Hence  this  more  modest  word  may 
have  been  chosen.  We  have  the  Hebrew  verb  rvti’  used  in 
Isaiah  xxvi.  1,  written  on  the  return  from  Captivity,  b.c.  537  : 
“ Our  city  is  strong,  salvation  setteth  up  walls  and  ramparts”;  that 
is,  salvation  makes  walls  unnecessary. 


No.  49. 

np:  pm 

nn 

ny  ppttf 
m n to  : pi 
: vp 

A memorial  for  her  that  is  guiltless,  oppressed,  girded  with  sack- 
cloth, made  hare,  broken  to  pieces.  Cultivate  the  pasture  which  is 
cut  short,  O Jehovah. 

In  No.  11  Jerusalem  is  called  “guiltless.”  In  Ezekiel  xxi. 
14,  the  sword  of  Nebuchadnezzar  is  said  to  be  besetting  the 
nation,  where  our  word  nn  is  used.  The  word  ppi£>  must  be 
taken,  not  as  the  noun  pi£>,  sackcloth,  but  as  a verb,  to  put  in  a 
sack,  the  root  of  the  noun  ; and  the  two  verbs  girded,  put  in  a 
sack,  may  be  translated  girded  with  sackcloth.  See  No.  40  and 
157,  where  we  have  the  two  words  nn  and  pt£\  This  inscription 
may  refer  to  the  Roman  armies  encompassing  Judea.  In  the 
prophets,  Judea  is  often  called  m3,  a couching  place  for  flocks,  as 
here ; and  in  Jerem.  iv.  3,  and  Hos.  x.  12,  the  word  n,  to 
cultivate  the  soil,  is  used  figuratively,  as  here.  Compare  the  last 
character  in  this  word  with  if,  in  No.  1 and  18,  and  with  *y  in 
No.  22. 


5G 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


No.  61. 

n1?  n yw  : Dbv 

1*1'  : py  bm 

: ]V 

A peace-offering.  The  failing , crushed  people  crieth  out ; 0 
Jehovah , change. 

The  last  word  in  the  first  line  is  very  doubtful.  It  is  badly 
copied.  We  have  nearly  the  same  strokes  in  No.  58.  But  here 
it  is  best  to  take  them  as  cz*?.  For  the  other  words  the  same 
characters  are  used  for  1,  g,  and  T ; and  again,  in  the  last  two  words, 
>,  l,  and  1 are  each  a plain  stroke.  Yet  I think  that  there  is  very 
little  doubt  about  any  word,  except  in'?.  For  py,  crushed,  we 
might  perhaps  read  pt,  purified  as  by  suffering. 


No.  53. 

: *py 

A peace-offering  for  thy  congregation. 

Here  the  last  letter  is  doubtful. 

In  No.  25  we  have  mjb  congregation,  meaning  the  nation. 


No.  54. 

: run  ny  n1^ 
n : Dy  prs  nas' 

: n>n  n b 

A peace- offering  for  the  city  of  sighing.  The  righteous  people 
are  willing.  Slay  the  buffalo. 

The  second  letter  in  the  second  line  I have  ventured  to  think 
reversed,  and  I have  written  not  p,  but  3.  I took  exactly  the 
same  liberty  in  No.  38.  The  last  letter  in  pn^  is  badly  formed. 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


57 


The  last  letter  in  the  second  line  I take  as  belonging  to  a letter 
at  the  beginning  of  the  third  line. 

See  the  word  run,  sighing,  in  No.  2c.  “ The  righteous  people 

are  whiling/’  seems  to  be  an  answer  to  Isaiah  i.  19,  where  the 
same  verb  is  used;  “If  ye  be  willing  and  obedient,  ye  shall 
eat  the  good  of  the  land.”  The  Buffalo,  called  in  the  A.  V. 
the  Unicorn,  is  often  used  as  figurative  of  Egypt  in  passages 
written  after  the  return  from  captivity.  But,  in  later  days, 
though  the  Jews  blamed  the  Egyptians  for  not  having  helped 
them  against  the  Babylonians,  they  felt  no  hatred  against 
them ; and  these  pilgrims  to  Sinai  were  living  comfortably  on 
the  banks  of  the  Nile.  Hence  I venture  to  think  that  the 
Greco-Syrians  are  here  meant,  perhaps  by  placing  the  letters  in 
a wrong  order,  and  writing  ox*1  for  tznx,  Syria.  This  may 
have  been  done  to  conceal  the  meaning.  See  No.  81  for  a 
prayer  against  SIX,  Syria;  and  see  No.  113  for  another  case 
of  probable  concealment  of  the  writer’s  meaning. 

No.  55a. 

cbv 
Npi  ny 
yip  -r y n^rr 
: « pi  ay 

A peace-offering  for  the  crushed  ruin,  the  nation  cast  off, 
the  city  cut  short,  the  broken  people  of  Jerusalem. 

I suppose  that  ny,  the  participle  ruined,  in  No.  22,  is  here 
used  for  the  substantive  >y,  a ruin.  The  second  line  ends 
with  a complex  character,  which  I venture  to  unravel  by  the 
help  of  other  inscriptions.  Thus  No.  138  tells  me  to  complete 
the  word  nbn,  of  which  only  the  first  two  letters  are  clear.  From 
No.  21c,  and  No.  97,  I learn  that  the  lower  portion  of  this 
complex  group  is  the  word  yip  ; and  lastly,  the  upper  portion 
of  the  lengthened  i stands  like  » between  y and  *i,  thus  making 
the  word  *vy. 


58 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


No.  55ft. 

yp-i  ny  |n^  yizn 

: pi  DV 

A memorial  therefore  for  the  crushed  ruin,  the  rejected  people. 

The  writer  evidently  quotes  the  last  inscription  which  is  on  the 
same  piece  of  rock.  The  Chaldee  “ therefore  ” seems  to  say  so. 
The  last  word  in  the  first  line,  for  the  Chaldee  feminine,  has  not  N, 
but  instead  of  it  y.  See  No.  59ft,  and  No.  60 d,  for  the  same 
peculiarity.  The  second  line  explains  the  first,  namely,  that  the 
ruin  means  the  people. 


No.  56. 

: w nt  pi1?  ip  : "p1?  iy  yp  n nbv 

A peace-offering  for  the  piece  cut  off,  of  the  city  which  has  passed 
away  ; this  is  a town  licked  up,  O Jehovah. 

We  have  here  the  N,  the  1,  and  the  final  "),  all  of  the  form  of 
the  printed  letters ; and  we  may  thus  suppose  that  it  is  one  of 
the  more  modern  inscriptions.  I take  "]iV,  like  "]bn,  in  No.  Ole,  to 
mean  gone  to  nought ; and  NT  to  he  the  same  as  nT,  for  which 
elsewhere  we  have  the  Chaldee  rn. 


No.  58. 

n D"n  nbv 
: py  i'y 

Prosper  her  that  is  fast  asleep,  that  is  made  an  end  of,  the 
oppressed  city. 

The  first  line  ends  with  a compound  character  formed  of  b (see 
No.  74),  and  an  incomplete  n.  The  straight  stroke  I therefore 
take  as  3.  The  word  n^>3  is  found  with  this  meaning  in  Isaiah 
xxxiii.  1.  But  see  No.  51  for  a compound  character  not  unlike 
this.  Hence  it  is  very  doubtful. 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


59 


No.  59a. 

: nr  pi  i’  p or6tt  : cbw 

A peace-offering.  Prosper,  make  to  rejoice  the  crushed  city, 
O Jehovah. 

The  word  CDnbty  must  be  taken  as  a verb.  It  is  fancifully 
written.  The  n is  a loop  between  the  b and  the  □ ; and  the  □ 
is  brought  down  and  turned  backwards,  as  is  No.  166.  The 
letter  n distinguishes  the  verb  from  the  substantive.  We  must 
take  nnbiy  for  the  participle  oVitf,  be  thou  prospering. 


No.  596. 

: ypi  py 

A peace  offering  for  her  that  is  pressed  down,  crushed. 

The  writer  seems  to  have  used  the  letter  y for  the  Chaldee 
feminine  termination.  We  have  the  same  peculiarity,  yet  more 
clearly,  in  No.  60d,  and  No.  556. 


No.  6 Od. 

; ypy  o!?ty 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  is  crushed. 

See  No.  596,  for  an  explanation  of  the  last  letter.  These  in- 
scriptions tell  us  that  the  y and  the  N were  often  very  much  alike 
in  sound. 


No.  61. 

m my  n Npi  oy  nbv 
: pa  it  «pn  rrm  -py 

A peace-offering  for  the  rejected  people,  that  is  afflicted,  O 
Jehovah ; the  city  cast  out,  injured,  scattered,  despised. 

In  Jerem.  li.  34,  we  have  the  word  m,  cast  out,  applied  to 


60 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


Jerusalem  when  conquered  by  Nebuchadnezzar.  Perhaps  it  might 
be  rendered  spunged  out,  as  it  is  usually  applied  to  washing. 
Here  the  word  has  an  unnecessary  n.  The  T in  this  inscription 
is  of  an  unusual  form,  but  its  force  is  proved  by  the  two  words 
in  which  it  is  found.  The  word  pT3  is  Chaldee  and  late  Hebrew. 
It  is  met  with  in  Daniel  and  Esther. 


No.  62. 

: it*  po  up  ‘rrn  pi  ny  nbv 

A peace-offering  for  the  people  crushed,  rejected,  mourning, 
despised,  trodden  down,  0 Jehovah. 

The  first  and  the  last  letters  of  pin  are  unusual.  In  Isaiah 
liii.  3,  this  word  is  applied  to  Zerubbabel,  the  servant  of  Jehovah, 
who  had  been  rejected  of  men.  The  words  pD  and  £H  are  both 
badly  written ; but  under  each  the  p and  the  ti*  are  again  written 
more  clearly,  in  order  to  remove  the  difficulty.  A similar  case  of 
double  writing  is  seen  in  No.  16c.  The  i£>  here,  as  in  No.  138, 
approaches  our  printed  letter. 

We  must  suppose  that  in  this  case  the  labourer  who  with  the 
tent-pin  and  hammer  cut  into  the  rock  the  letters  that  had  been 
painted  there,  cut  them  badly  ; and  hence  they  were  painted  a 
second  time  underneath,  and  then  cut  again. 


No.  63. 

: in  b win  xbv 

Prosper  her  that  is  crushed  to  the  ground. 

For  oVttf  we  have  the  less  usual  word  rb'\V,  but  with  the  final 
vowel  changed,  according  to  Chaldee  custom.  The  word  t£HO 
is  in  Isaiah  xxi.  10,  as  crushed,  in  the  A.  V.  threshed.  The  last 
letter  in  the  word  2HN,  ground,  is  omitted.  This  was  not  done  in 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


61 


carelessness,  for  in  No.  103  we  have  the  word  also  spelt  with  only 
two  letters.  As  in  Chaldee,  the  last  letter  was  so  far  softened 
that  the  word  was  written  jnx,  we  can  understand  how  it  was 
sometimes  omitted  altogether. 


No.  64. 

: »py  xp  oVty 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  hath  been  vomited  out,  oppressed. 

Lev.  xviii.  28,  threatens  the  Israelites  with  being  vomited  out 
by  the  land,  as  the  nations  had  before  been  vomited  -out.  This 
would  less  suit  a time  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the 
Homans,  when  the  unhappy  Jew  had  no  country  to  pray  for. 


No.  65. 

nnbn  Y">  pV  "W 
: rm1?  nppa 

A peace-offering  for  the  city  pressed  down , crushed,  cast  off , 
mocked,  iveary. 

This  is  a fragment  with  some  doubt  about  the  last  letters  in  each 
line,  and  it  must  be  read  by  the  help  of  other  inscriptions,  par- 
ticularly No.  138.  The  Q in  the  first  line  is  to  be  read  a second 
time  as  the  first  letter  in  the  second  line;  and  the  last  letter  in  the 
second  line  is  perhaps  to  be  read  also  in  the  first  line.  Thus  we 
gain  the  word  nnbn,  which  we  have  in  No.  13,  though  there 
without  the  last  letter.  That  the  loop  at  the  end  of  ^ is  the  letter 
n we  learn  from  No.  1396,  and  No.  82.  We  have  the  word  ppD 
in  No.  83c. 

Our  inscription  written  in  this  fanciful  manner  is  of  a late 
date,  when  the  Alexandrian  penmen  were  studying  ornamental 
writing. 


62 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


No.  67. 

Nsnp  nbv 
: V"i  p : yp  nj  1 

.4  peace-offering  fur  her  that  is  cut  short,  and  made  lean,  alienated. 
Show  favour,  accept. 

The  sloping  stroke  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  line  is  1, 
and;  it  is  our  one  example  of  the  employment  of  the  copulative. 
We  may  take  yp  as  from  yp>,  to  be  removed,  or  from  ypj,  alienated. 


No.  69. 

: Npn  nyo 
: did  ym 

Slipping  off,  being  thrown  off ; the  horse  is  rearing. 

The  word  Np"l,  emptied,  may  well  mean  that  the  saddle  is 
emptied,  or  rather  likely  to  become  so.  The  word  yn,  to  leap  up, 
we  have  in  Job  xli.  22  (14). 

The  writer  was  writing  on  the  rock  while  sitting  on  his  horse, 
in  order  to  place  his  inscription  at  a height ; and  he  found  it 
difficult  to  do  so. 


No.  70. 

: pr  py  nbv 
: in'  ms  mn 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  is  pressed  down,  purified.  Refresh 
me,  O Jehovah. 

The  word  p?  may  be  taken  from  ppf,  to  purify.  Here  ’JN  is  used 
for  the  objective  me ; in  the  Bible  it  is  always  the  nominative. 
Compare  No.  82,  where  we  seem  to  have  ptpT. 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


63 


No.  71a. 

* im  y a bv 
: ill  bbn 

A peace-offering  for  the  heap  of  ruins,  fainting  [under']  *, 
profaned,  trodden  down. 

The  word  im  maybe  for  nil,  sick;  but  there  is  an  unknown 
character  joined  to  the  last  letter,  which  makes  the  word  doubtful. 
The  unknown  character  may  have  had  a concealed  meaning ; in 
No.  2b,  the  same  character  means  the  nation’s  oppressors. 


No.  7lb. 

” py  oy  abw 
: in'  sm 

A peace-offering  for  the  people  pressed  down,  the  sick  Jerusalem t 
O Jehovah. 

The  Hebrew  verb  nil,  to  be  sick,  will  justify  our  word  Nil, 
with  its  Chaldee  feminine  termination.  Or  it  may  come  from  nil, 
to  cast  forth,  a word  used  in  Isaiah  Ixvi.  5. 


No.  72. 

: yup  pi  np  up:  ay  nbv 
: yi  pa 

A peace-offering  for  the  people  guiltless,  blasphemed,  rejected, 
destroyed.  A stone  to  be  desired. 

Then  in  px  is  not  of  the  same  form  as  that  in  the  first  line; 
the  second  line  is  added  by  another  hand.  “ A stone  to  be 
desired”  may  be  compared  to  “the  stone  which  the  builders 
rejected”  of  Psalm  cxviii.  22. 


G4 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


No.  74. 

pan  n par  b 
p bbw  y a 
: in'  pin 

For  a memorial  for  her  that  is  wandering , the  ruined  heap  that 
hath  been  gleaned , destroyed,  rejected,  0 Jehovah. 

This  is  a very  scholar-like  inscription.  The  l is  carefully  dis- 
tinguished from  the  » by  the  stroke  sloping. 

In  Jerem.  xxxi.  22,  we  have  the  word  pD!7,  to  wander  about, 
used  for  those  Jews  who  did  not  return  to  Judea  when  allowed 
to  do  so  by  the  Persians.  (See  No.  11  for  this  word.) 

In  Jerem.  vi.  9,  we  have  bbty,  gleaned,  for  the  ruined  state  of 
the  nation.  We  have  not  often  in  these  inscriptions  a word  with 
its  full  number  of  feeble  letters  as  here.  The  words  with  which 
the  lines  end  are  in  each  case  divided,  aud  continued  in  the  next 
line. 

No.  9 in  Grey’s  collection  seems  to  be  another  copy  of  this 
inscription. 


No.  75. 

*i'  n n nbv 
pmp  nn 
dti  n y n 
: in' 

A peace-offering  for  the  famine  of  the  city,  which  is  trampled 
on,  oppressed,  the  ruined  heap,  which  is  asleep,  0 Jehovah. 

This  is  a very  carefully  written  inscription,  but  the  Gnostic 
writer’s  chief  care  was  so  to  range  his  letters,  that  when  read  from 
top  to  bottom,  we  should  find  the  word  he-he-he-he,  which  we  have 
in  No.  25,  and  have  there  endeavoured  to  explain.  In  the  first 
line  the  two  letters  between  "i  and  “i  are  doubtful,  but  the  language 
very  much  limits  our  choice.  The  rest  is  pretty  clear.  The  i in 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


65 


the  second  line  is  a sloping  stroke  as  often.  The  pair  of  letters 
1 1 are  alike  in  the  second  and  third  lines. 

Like  No.  25,  this  may  be  of  the  second  or  third  century  of  our 
era. 


No.  76. 

pt  i'  pat  y 
pip1?  dP  n n 
: jtp  Dana 
y 

For  a memorial  of  the  purified  city,  the  people  licked  up,  hound, 
put  in  fear. 

The  word  tZD“i,  to  bind,  is  in  Exod.  xxviii.  28,  and  xxxix.  21. 

The  single  letter  below  the  whole  I do  not  understand.  The 
same  letter  at  the  beginning  is  for  the  preposition  by,  as  in 
No.  32. 

No.  78. 

: tt  NpT  : iy  nbv 

A peace-offering  for  the  congregation,  the  payment  of  a vow. 

The  verb  pi’  is  to  spit ; it  seems  to  be  used  here  like  our  word 
to  liquidate  a debt.  The  “i  hangs  down  behind  the  *,  but  is  to  be 
read  as  if  on  the  other  side.  The  word  *n  is  Chaldee. 


No.  80a. 

: rrvy  ’to  yn  pr  : Npn  Dy  d but  Tt 

O Beloved,  a peace-offering  for  the  people  cast  out ; favour, 
accept  the  poor  of  the  City. 

We  do  not  in  the  Bible  find  God  so  addressed  as  “ 0 Beloved,” 
but  see  No.  122.  In  xp“i  we  have  the  Chaldee  final  x,  while  in 
>XD  we  have  that  letter  of  another  form.  In  No.  44  we  have,  in 


F 


66 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


the  same  way,  the  two  forms  for  that  letter.  In  the  last  word  we 
have  a final  vowel  more  than  is  wanted. 

This  prayer  for  the  poor  of  the  city  reminds  us  of  the  custom 
of  sending  up  alms  to  Jerusalem,  which  we  read  of  in  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles. 

No.  806. 

: ? oViy 

A peace-offering  for  ?. 

This  one  word  is  followed  by  a complex  character  which  I do 
not  understand.  It  probably  represents  the  writer’s  own  name, 
as  in  No.  966. 

No.  80c. 

: naV?  nbv  : am  yim 
: jikt  n 

A memorial  of  lamentation.  A peace-offering  for  the  people  ; 
the  Decree  is  determined. 

This  badly  written  inscription  has  only  one  doubtful  letter,  the 
letter  n.  The  writer  has  added  an  unnecessary  letter  to  the  word 
□lb  ; but  perhaps  he  meant  to  continue  his  writing  on  that  line. 
I take  nxi  for  the  Hebrew  JT7,  or  the  Chaldee  sm.  From  the 
word  fin,  I venture  to  think  that  our  pilgrim  is  referring  to 
Daniel  ix.  27,  “ that  which  has  been  determined  shall  be  poured 
out  upon  the  desolator.”  He  is  satisfied  that  the  destruction  of 
the  Homan  power  is  at  hand. 


No.  81. 

: * ruy  n put 
: ”n'  rar 

A memorial  for  the  afflicted  Jerusalem.  Slaughter,  0 Jehovah, 
Syria. 

This  carefully  cut  inscription  is  Hebrew,  not  Chaldee,  as  we  see 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


07 


by  the  first  word.  It  leads  us  to  understand  that  the  form  of  the 
N here  is  Hebrew,  as  we  have  seen  that  the  other  form  of  that 
letter  is  Chaldee. 

This  was  probably  written  soon  after  the  revolt  of  Judas  the 
Maccabee  against  the  Greco-Syrians,  b.c.  166. 


No.  82. 

: ptpT  p : yap  m 

Thus  gather  in ; make  her  that  hath  been  thoroughly  •purified 
to  rejoice. 

This  is  a fragment.  The  first  character  has  the  n in  the  form 
of  a loop  at  the  bottom  of  the  7.  The  word  may  be  for  nt* 

In  Jerem.  xxiii.  3,  we  have  the  word  ynp  in  “ I will  gather  up 
the  remnant  of  my  flock,”  for  bringing  home  the  dispersed  Israel- 
ites at  the  close  of  the  Captivity,  b.c.  538.  This  was  written  on 
some  occasion  of  rejoicing ; perhaps  on  the  Maccabee  victory  over 
the  Greco-Syrians.  See  No.  76  for  the  word  purified. 

This  inscription  was  surrounded  by  numerous  figures  of  men 
and  animals,  representing  the  crowds  that  were  to  be  gathered 
in.  The  picture  explains  the  word  “ thus.” 


No.  83a. 

: yi  p : Np7  ny  pm 

A memorial  for  the  crushed  people.  Show  favour,  accept. 

These  letters  stand  upon  a line  which  hides  the  bottom  stroke 
of  each,  and  thus  removes  the  distinction  between  7,  D,  and  3. 
There  are  several  inscriptions  in  Mr.  Grey’s  collection  which  are 
made  illegible  by  such  a line.  The  next  line  I do  not  understand. 


68 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


No.  83ft. 

ny  eyfrn  nbv 
: **  1 n ppo 

A peace-offering  for  the  wound  of  the  people,  mocked  **. 

In  Job  xx.  24,  r^n  is  to  strike,  to  wound,  though  it  more  often 
means  to  change.  The  word  ppQ  here  confirms  the  doubtful 
readings  in  No.  65  and  No.  138. 


No.  84. 

m in  : pan 
: w pn  Ty 
amp  py 
: vfrn 

A memorial.  Show  favour,  accept  the  crushed  city,  O Jehovah. 
The  renowned  ornament  is  cut  off. 

All  the  letters  in  the  first  line  are  joined  together.  The  b in  the 
fourth  line  faces  the  wrong  way.  In  Ezek.  vii.  20,  >1^*,  ornament, 
is  used  for  the  costly  temple-service;  and  no  doubt  that  is  here 
meant.  In  No.  1 45c  we  have  the  word  Nip,  renowned ; here  it  has 
a final  x in  addition. 

This  may  have  been  written  when  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  b.c.  167, 
stopt  the  daily  sacrifices  in  the  Temple. 


No.  85. 

: *72  Dm  m 

These  words  are  followed  by  a cross  representative  of  Chris- 
tianity, as  in  No.  86ft.  Thus  tread  down  lying  Christianity.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  line  is  the  complex  character,  with  which 
No.  82  begins. 

The  word  Dill  I read  as  ; the  two  letters  are  often  inter- 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


69 


changed.  Buxtorf,  in  his  Lexicon  to  the  Talmud,  has  the  word  D'l 
as  bi~uised.  The  word  “ thus  ” may  perhaps  have  been  explained 
by  the  action  of  the  figures  around,  which  Mr.  Grey  mentions,  but 
does  not  describe.  In  No.  156  we  render  13  as  lonely,  which  is 
also  its  meaning  in  Hebrew ; but  here  the  cross  of  the  hated 
Christianity  points  to  its  other  meaning. 


No.  86a. 

: yip  wp  n 
: nw  n'  : nb  ny  in 

A peace-offering  for  the  stubble  that  hath  been  put  away.  Favour 
the  despised  ruin  ; 0 Jehovah,  change. 

In  No.  23  the  unhappy  nation  is  compared  to  stubble.  In 
Ezek.  xxiii.  22,  we  have  the  word  njtp3,  alienated,  turned  away, 
which  explains  our  word  gip.  The  word  ji*?  is  Chaldee,  softened 
from  the  Hebrew  jyb,  to  despise.  But  perhaps  the  word  is  not 
but  l1?,  not,  meaning  that  is  destroyed ; and  the  character  which  I 
have  taken  as  j in  the  second  line,  may  be  the  middle  letter  of  the 
word  tip  in  the  first  line.  See  No.  36a  for  a l so  written.  But 
yet  more  probable  is  it  that  this  character,  joined  on  as  it  is  to 
another,  is  to  do  duty  in  both  lines,  as  i in  the  first  line,  and  as  j in 
the  second.  We  have  examples  to  support  this  conjecture  in 
No.  65,  No.  138,  and  No.  172.  No.  51  ends  with  the  same  prayer 
to  Jehovah,  in  the  word  “change.” 

No.  866. 

i ab  i abut 
ity  b spj  p 
: pb  b 

This  is  followed  by  a cross  for  Christianity. 

A peace-offering  for  the  rejected  people,  guiltless,  on  behalf  of 
what  remains,  on  behalf  of  the  society  of  Christianity. 

The  word  pi,  rejected,  is  divided,  and  the  latter  letter,  at  the 


70 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS 


beginning  of  the  second  line,  has  been  made  useful  as  an  animal’s 
head.  The  next  word  might  be  read  xpl,  but  seeing  what  it 
follows,  Np3  is  more  probable.  In  No.  72  we  have  the  same  word 
“ guiltless,”  which  is  here  to  be  understood  not  as  denying  the 
justice  of  God’s  punishment,  but  the  justice  of  the  Roman 
government.  The  word  pb  may  be  explained  by  rtpnV,  a company, 
in  1.  Sam.  xix.  20. 

Our  inscription  may  have  been  written  by  a Jewish  Christian  in 
the  second  century. 


No.  87. 

YP  21  : ^rr  ir 

rn  Dp  : pan  n 

: IT 

A vow  of  a profane  [or  unworthy ] peace-offering.  Increase 
her  that  is  cut  short,  her  that  is  wandering,  raise  up  the  generations, 
O Jehovah. 

The  word  it  is  Chaldee  for  a vow. 

The  word  pDn,  wandering,  we  had  in  No.  11  and  No.  74.  The 
last  two  letters  in  pi  are  joined  in  an  unusual  manner,  which 
makes  the  word  doubtful.  It  has  the  Chaldee  plural  termination. 
The  writer  was  under  a vow  to  make  this  pilgrimage,  and  the 
inscription  is  a proof  that  he  had  performed  his  vow. 


No.  88. 

: pi  ay  pn  : n 

A sickly  peace-offering  ; make  the  rejected  people  to  rejoice 
triumphantly. 

From  pi,  to  sing,  we  have  the  duplicate  form  pn,  to  rejoice 
thoroughly.  Such  an  expression  belongs  to  a time  of  triumph. 
See  No.  91c. 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


71 


Two  lines  from  No.  89  : — 

nbw 

: "K  bD  ''  pi  Dy 

Mr.  Grey’s  note  upon  this  is  “ Uncertain.”  The  rest  of  the 
inscription  may  have  been  badly  copied. 

A peace-offering  for  the  broken  people  of  Jerusalem , wholly 
afflicted. 


No.  90. 

TP  in  : pat 

: i-i'  Nihttf 
B $ 

A memorial.  Favour  her  that  is  cut  short,  failing,  O Jehovah. 

This  is  badly  written.  The  jf  is  divided,  as  is  often  the  case. 
In  Hebrew  is  quiet,  in  Chaldee  failing. 

The  Greek  letters  tell  us  that  it  is  of  a late  time.  They  may 
represent  the  writer’s  name. 

No.  91a. 

: in'  id  n *r>y  apart  rt  pan 
: in'  an  yp»p  Kin 

A memorial  for  her  that  is  wandering , tied  about  the  neck,  O 
Jehovah.  This  is  a print-mark  of  rejoicing,  0 Jehovah. 

We  have  the  word  port  in  No.  87  and  No.  126.  The  n in  “u 
is  a wavy  line  drawn  downwards  as  in  No.  22,  &c. 

The  word  ypyp,  for  a print-mark,  or  incision,  is  used  in  Levit. 
xix.  28.  It  is  a suitable  word  for  an  inscription  cut  in  the  rock. 
The  first  word  in  the  second  line,  whether  read  as  Nnn  or  *on,  is 
in  either  case  the  Chaldee  this. 

The  thought  of  a memorial  being  “ tied  about  the  neck  ” is 
borrowed  in  the  very  words  from  Prov.  vi.  21.  That  the 


72 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


inscription  on  the  rock  should  be  called  such  a memorial  is  not  a 
more  violent  figure  of  speech  than  that  used  in  Exod.  xiii.  9, 
where  the  unleavened  bread  eaten  at  the  feast  is  said  to  be  for  “ a 
sign  to  thee  upon  thy  hand,  and  for  a memorial  between  thine 
eyes.”  The  inscription  probably  belongs  to  the  time  of  the 
Maccabee  success  against  the  Greco-Syrians. 


No.  915. 

: in'  wnbn  : ynp  **pj  t nbw  y 

For  a peace-offering  for  the  guiltless  city,  that  is  awakened. 
Clothe  it,  0 Jehovah. 

The  first  letter  I take  as  representing  the  preposition  by.  The 
word  ynp  I have  usually  rendered  cut  short;  here  I venture  to  take  it, 
yip,  awakened,  which  suits  better  with  the  word  which  follows,  and 
with  the  next  inscription,  which  is  from  the  same  piece  of  rock. 
Hebrew  writing  is  full  of  words  thus  chosen  playfully.  If  the 
nation  has  been  awakened  by  the  Maccabees  from  its  sleep,  it 
may  be  said  to  need  clothing.  The  Hiphil  form  of  the  verb  is 
unusual  in  these  inscriptions. 


No.  91c. 

: * * YpJ  cu  n Nps  ro  n cbv  y 

For  a peace-offering  for  the  rest  of  one  who  is  disturbed,  the 
sleeping  one  who  is  awakened,  * * 

The  writer  has  made  the  one  letter  y serve  for  the  beginning  of 
this  line  and  of  the  last,  No.  915.  The  translation  here  is  less 
satisfactory,  because  the  end  of  the  line  is  broken.  But  the  one 
confirms  the  other.  We  have  here  yp3,  the  Niphal  of  yip,  as  above 
we  had  the  Hiphil  form  of  a verb.  The  writer  was  evidently  a 
man  of  exactness. 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


73 


No.  9 Id. 

: yp  Tin  b nry  : Km  y asp  b poi  b 

For  a memorial,  for  her  that  is  cut  short,  the  sick  heap  of  ruins. 
Help  thou  to  beautify  the  piece  that  has  been  cut  short. 

Here  again  we  have  thoughts  which  belong  to  a time  of  hope. 


No.  91e. 

: pp  y : -j'p  yy  mw  b myv  nbw  y 

For  a peace-offering,  for  support  unto  the  humbled  Jerusalem, 
the  city  that  had  passed  away ; the  heap  of  ruins  sings  triumphantly . 

Though  the  letters  here  are  very  much  entangled,  there  is  very 
little  doubt  about  them.  In  mitf  the  1 hangs  below  the  its.  In 
city,  the  1,  as  usual,  hangs  below.  The  yy  I understand  to 
mean  Jerusalem,  instead  of  the  » of  the  other  inscriptions. 

The  division  of  the  words  may  in  some  places  be  doubtful.  We 
have  "j^n,  passed  away,  used  absolutely  in  Eccl.  i.  4,  and  Jerem. 
xxii.  10.  We  have  the  word  pn,  to  sing  triumphantly,  in 
No.  88.  The  doubled  form  of  the  verb  marks  strong  feeling. 
The  above  five  inscriptions  in  No.  91  seem  to  be  the  work  of  one 
hand  ; and  the  purpose  of  the  writing  shows  that  they  are  so. 
Each  confirms  the  translation  of  the  others,  and  they,  no  doubt, 
belong  to  the  time  of  the  Maccabee  rebellion.  They  may  be  the 
peace-offerings  and  memorial  offerings  of  five  friends  who  made 
the  pilgrimage  in  company,  and  who  allowed  one  of  the  party,  a 
better  writer  than  the  rest,  to  imprint  upon  the  rock  these  words 
for  himself  and  his  four  companions. 

The  two  letters  yy,  which  seem  to  mean  Jesusalem,  may  represent 
the  ny  *y,  ruined  ruin  of  No.  22,  or  perhaps  >y  >y,  a ruin  of  ruins. 
As  the  Jews  of  Egypt  gave  to  these  words  the  softer  sound  of  Ai 
Ai,  they  may  be  originals  of  the  ”,  which  more  often  mean  Jerusalem, 
as  in  No.  17.  The  inscriptions  with  the  word  or  letters  » may  be 
more  modern  than  these. 


74 


STNAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


No.  91/ 

n an  : :n»  :nb  ab& 

: tv  by  ]b 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  is  mocked,  faint.  Raise  up  therefore 
her  that  is  defiled , O Jehovah. 

There  is  much  here  that  is  doubtful.  Though  on  the  same  piece 
of  rock  with  the  former,  it  is  not  by  the  same  hand.  I render  the 
second  word  as  if  it  were  jyb,  supposing  the  g to  be  softened,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  Chaldee  xb,  to  mock.  I take  as  the  Chaldee, 
therefore,  like  the  pb  with  the  same  meaning  in  No.  55 b.  It 
seems  to  refer  to  the  foregoing  inscription,  as  of  course  it  is  the 
later  of  the  two.  The  word  by  we  had  in  No.  74,  though  more 
correctly  spelt  with  a second  b.  In  Job  xvi.  15,  it  is  rendered 
defiled.  The  city  at  the  time  of  the  Maccabee  rebellion  may  well 
be  said  to  have  been  defiled. 


No.  91^. 

: ypn:  pJN  y b abw 

Prosper  the  ruined  heap  that  groans,  having  been  broken  up. 


No.  91  h. 

: in'1  tn  *v  ybu  Nsin  abut 
: m : p mp 

A peace-offering  for  the  outside  of  the  rock,  the  plundered  city, 
O Jehovah. 

The  bald  one  rejoices.  Refresh  her  that  has  been  set  in  order. 

For  the  word  T,  see  “iy  in  No.  91a.  In  each  case  the  “)  has 
been  drawn  down  behind  the  letter  instead  of  being  in  front  of  it. 
The  word  fp  1 can  only  understand  by  supposing  that  the  first 
letter  has  been  reversed,  as  is  sometimes  the  case.  I read  it  as 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


75 


T3j  plundered,  a word  which  we  have  in  No.  100.  Remark  that  > is 
a long  stroke,  and  ) a short  stroke,  in  in*. 

We  have  seen  that  the  upper  inscriptions  on  this  piece  of  rock 
may  be  supposed  to  be  of  the  hopeful  time  of  the  Maccabee 
struggle ; and  we  may  conjecture  that  this  belongs  to  the  time 
when  for  twenty  years  the  castle  of  Jerusalem,  here  called  Sela, 
the  rock,  was  able  to  resist  the  attacks  of  the  city.  The  city  is  here 
called  “ the  outside  of  Sela,”  and  it  seems  to  have  been  “ set  in 
order,”  or  reduced  to  regular  government,  first  by  Judas,  and 
then  by  Simon. 

This  explanation  of  our  inscription  is  supported  by  Psalms  lx. 
and  cviii.,  written  when  the  Maccabees  were  not  masters  of  the 
castle  of  Jerusalem,  which  was  held  against  them  by  the  nobles 
of  Judah,  whom  they  reproachfully  called  Edomites.  Psalm  lx. 
asks, — 

Who  will  bring  me  into  the  besieged  city  F who  will  lead  me  into  Edom  ? 

meaning,  as  I suppose,  into  the  castle.  Psalm  cviii.  says, — 

Who  will  bring  me  into  the  city  of  Mibzar  P 

Mibzar  is  another  name  for  Sela,  or  Petra,  the  rock,  and  it 
supports  our  conjecture  that  “the  outside  of  the  rock”  may  be 
Jerusalem,  when  the  city  was  not  master  of  the  castle. 


No.  94. 

Npl  "I' 

: p"i  anp  : ^np 

A peace-offering  for  the  crushed  city  of  the  congregation.  Raise 
up  the  rejected  one. 

After  the  return  from  Captivity  the  congregation  of  Israel, 
meaning  the  true  Jews  as  opposed  to  the  strangers  living  among 
them,  was  named  ^>np.  [See  Ezra  and  Neheiniah,  and  the  Lexicon 
to  the  Talmud.)  Before  the  Captivity  it  was  named  rnp.  (See 
Exod.j  Lev.,  and  Numb.) 


76 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


No.  95fl. 

: in'  m bi  ns  ay  pat 

A memorial  for  the  ruined  heap  of  the  Hon  \cHy\,  which  is 
wholly  blood,  O Jehovah. 

The  first  word  would  be  quite  illegible  without  the  help  of  the 
other  inscriptions ; the  rest  is  pretty  clear.  In  the  second  and 
third  words  one  N is  joined  to  the  other. 

Jerusalem  is  called  in  Isaiah  xxix.  1,  >“iN,  the  lion  of  God ; 

and  here  it  bears  the  same  name. 


No.  956. 

□ip  : m np  n iw  sy  ns  ny  np  nbv 
nn  dw  : pn  py 
: in' 

A humble  peace-offering  for  the  ruin  that  has  been  cursed,  the  ruin 
of  the  wall  of  the  city  that  is  cast  away.  Raise  up  her  that  is 
afflicted,  broken.  Preserve  the  beloved  city,  O Jehovah. 

The  three  letters  grouped  in  one  character,  here  read  as  “my, 
ivall,  are  seen  in  No.  117,  but  there  they  are  better  formed. 

This  inscription,  which  is  on  the  same  stone  as  the  last,  plays 
upon  the  words  there  used,  and  calls  the  city,  not  the  “ ruins  of 
the  lion,”  but  the  “ruins  cursed.” 


No.  95c. 

: #*  n *ps 
: obty 


Lengthen  the  * A peace-offering . 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


77 


No.  96«. 

yy  pai  b 

\ * di  r\y  ** 

For  a memorial  for  Jerusalem,  * * a heap  of  ruins,  the  people*  *. 
Here  we  have  the  same  two  letters  for  Jerusalem  as  in  No.  91'e. 


No.  9 6b. 

p mn  ? pm 
: it  jn  n 

A memorial  for  ?,  driven  away,  vomited  forth,  and  his  foreign 
companion. 

We  have  the  word  rrQ  in  No.  44,  and  Np  in  No.  64.  The 
writer  puts  an  unknown  character  for  his  own  name.  In  No.  1 
we  have  the  same  letters,  It  JH>  for  bis  foreign  companion,  or  wife. 

No.  97. 

Nsp  n nbw 
: rr  vp 

A peace-offering  for  the  end  cut  off,  0 Jehovah. 

We  have  the  same  group  of  letters,  which  I read  as  pp,  in 
No.  27 c,  and  in  No.  55. 

No.  98. 

: Nprn  b vnm 
: w *n  ]bpwy 

A memorial  for  her  that  is  rejected.  Favour  the  oppressed,  the 
vile  heap  of  ruins,  that  is  trampled  on,  0 Jehovah. 

The  b in  the  first  line  is  doubtful ; but  we  have  that  letter  better 


78 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


formed  in  the  same  position  in  No.  91c?.  In  we  have  a final 
letter  more  than  usual.  The  "I  in  “p  is  badly  formed. 

The  word  is  Chaldee  for  the  Hebrew  bp. 


No.  99a. 

: yip  n 
pw  n pat 
pr 

: vr 

The  piece  torn  off.  A memorial  for  those  that  are  humbled , 
failing , purified,  O Jehovah. 

Here  the  letters  pt V are  joined  as  if  they  were  one  character,  2f, 
whereas  the  "a  is  more  often  broken  into  the  two.  The  word  pliy, 
humbled,  is  Chaldee.  That  and  the  next  word  have  the  Chaldee 
plural  form.  The  T in  has  the  form  of  y. 

This  seems  to  be  a prayer,  not  for  Jerusalem  or  Judea,  but  for 
those  at  a distance. 


No.  99 b. 

N2H  : T t&D 

: vv  pan  rr 

A peace-offering  for  the  city.  Accept  her  that  is  made  to  wander, 
O Jehovah. 

In  “t»  we  have  1 of  the  form  used  in  No.  27.  It  is  of  a late 
date.  The  word  pan  we  have  had  in  No.  91a,  and  elsewhere. 


No.  100. 

: pn  n pix  : obv 

A peace-offering.  Lengthen  her  that  is  appointed  as  a prey. 

The  letters  are  pretty  clear,  except  that  the  •]  is  like  a p.  The 
meaning  of  the  last  two  words  is  rather  doubtful. 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


79 


No.  102. 

: NSp  n nbltf 

: 11'  m Dt0 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  is  cut  short ; give  rest,  0 Jehovah. 

This  is  the  same  as  No.  10,  except  in  the  characters  for  the  word 
Jehovah. 


No.  103. 

: IX  b t£TTD  Dbt0 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  is  trodden  to  the  ground. 

This  is  the  same  as  No.  63,  and  with  the  last  word  spelt  in  the 
same  defective  way. 


No.  104. 

-W'  n mb  obi0 
: pi  ly 

A peace-offering  for  the  righteous  people  of  the  city  that  has  been 
purified  [ like  silver ] . 

Purified  by  its  sufferings,  not  purified  after  the  defilement  of  the 
Gentiles. 


No.  105. 

xpi  *v  "px 

: mi  xdx 

Lengthen  the  broken  city,  the  cast-off  nation. 

The  letters  are  badly  formed,  but  the  reading  of  each  word  is 
scarcely  doubtful.  It  may  be  of  an  early  date. 

The  use  of  the  word  ~pN,  to  lengthen,  in  these  inscriptions,  may 
be  explained  by  Eccl.  vii.  15,  and  viii.  12,  where  it  is  used 


80 


SIN’AITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


absolutely,  and  means  Lengthen  the  life.  Thus  our  inscription 
means  Lengthen  the  life  of  the  broken  city.  As  the  Book  of 
Ecclesiastes  was  written  about  b.c.  220,  we  naturally  find  it  in 
agreement  with  these  inscriptions. 


No.  106a. 

: pn  Dy  In  : ibjn  : baa  pDi 

A feeble  memorial ; they  are  defiled;  make  the  rejected  people 
to  rejoice. 

The  words  lbp  and  p may  be  doubtful.  The  other  letters  are 
perfectly  plain,  though  in  a loose  running  hand.  The  little  sloping 
stroke  after  the  is  l.  The  word  may  be  the  Niphal  of  bbp, 
to  defile. 

The  letters  are  of  an  early  form.  This  might  belong  to  the 
time  of  the  Maccabee  success. 


No.  106&. 

: in'  nm  np  pn  nr  dV?  nbw 

A peace-offering  for  a people  that  melts  away,  is  broken,  bowed 
down,  made  alien,  0 Jehovah. 

In  the  is  small,  the  □ hangs  down  below  the  1.  The  > 
in  HD3  joins  the  > in  in*.  But  I think  no  word  is  doubtful.  We 
have  the  word  >“D3  in  No.  152. 


No.  107. 

33T  VTDT 
: rp 

Memorial  for  the  tail  of  a sheep  cut  off. 

Every  letter  is  distinct  in  this  interesting  inscription,  except  the 
letters  |N,  which  are  joined  together.  The  first  word  has  its  full 
number  of  letters,  whereas  it  usually  has  only  four  letters. 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


81 


The  writer  probably  had  in  bis  mind  the  words  of  Amos  iii. 
12,  in  which  the  prophet  compares  the  northern  Israelites  in  their 
ruined  state  to  the  two  legs  and  piece  of  an  ear  of  a sheep,  which 
had  been  left  when  a lion  had  devoured  the  rest.  As  it  is 
Hebrew,  not  Chaldee,  we  may  suppose  that  our  writer  was  au 
educated  man. 


No.  109. 

: ntp  y jn  : m 00  : nbv 

A peace-offering . Give  rest,  favour  the  city  that  is  a ruin, 
boived  down. 

Some  of  these  letters  are  very  doubtful. 


No.  110. 

py  t obw 
: n'  p- 1 am 

A peace-offering  for  the  oppressed  city,  pity  her  that  is  rejected, 
0 Jehovah. 


No.  111. 

: ay  rnoi 

This  is  followed  by  a Christian  cross  like  that  in  No.  86. 

A memorial  for  the  people. 

As  there  is  no  word  of  enmity  to  the  cross,  we  may  suppose 
that  this  was  by  a Jewish  Christian,  and  if  so,  before  the 
separation  between  Jews  and  Christians  in  the  third  century. 

No.  112. 

: i byv  n m1?  x^p  n abv 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  is  cut  short,  the  injured  people,  O 
Jehovah. 

The  final  letter  probably  represents  the  word  Jehovah.  Our 

G 


82 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


word  Ityll  may  be  from  the  verb  biy,  which  we  have  in  Isaiah 
xxvi.  10,  and  Psalm  lxxi.  4. 


No.  113. 

: iTiyy  mn  : in  : pat  o 

A part  of  a memorial.  Show  favour,  he  gracious.  Utterly 
destroy  the  rich  men. 

This  inscription  has  several  peculiarities.  It  begins  with  the 
preposition  d,  as  does  No.  178,  instead  of  the  more  usual  b.  This 
word  I understand  to  mean  a part  of.  The  f in  is  Hebrew, 
while  N2D  is  Chaldee,  as  is  the  plural  termination  of  the  last  word. 

1 conjecture  that  the  name  of  the  enemies  who  are  devoted  to 
destruction  has  been  purposely  spelt  wrong;  beginning  with  y 
instead  of  N,  thus  concealing  the  writer’s  meaning.  The  enemies 
meant  are  probably  the  Greco-Syrians  under  Antiochus  Epiphanes, 
who  are  called  ‘Yiit’X  in  Numbers  xxiv.  22  and  24.  In  Isaiah 
liii.  9,  we  seem  to  have  “)>wy,  rich  man,  in  the  same  cautious  way, 
written,  as  I conjecture,  for  “ilii'N,  Assyrian.  Speaking  of 
Zerubbabel,  who  had  looked  forward  to  dying  in  Babylon,  the 
writer  says,  “ By  the  transgression  of  my  people  violence  came 
upon  him  ; and  he  prepared  his  grave  with  the  wicked  men,  and 
with  the  rich  man  among  his  dead  men.”  The  wicked  men  are 
the  Babylonians  ; the  rich  man  is  the  Assyrian  tyrant  whose 
monarchy  had  been  before  overthrown,  and  who  is  described  in 
Isaiah  xiv.  4-20,  as  lying  in  hell  among  his  dead  men,  and  waiting 
to  receive  the  Babylonian  king. 

The  two  passages  support  one  another,  and  lead  us  to  think 
that  in  each  •ywy  is  written  for  not  carelessly,  but  for 

reasons  of  prudence. 

Our  inscription  may  have  been  written  between  175  and  142 
n.c.,  about  the  same  time  as  No.  81,  in  which  the  enemy  is  called 
□IN,  or  Syria. 

As  the  Jews  living  in  Egypt  had  no  opportunity  of  placing  a 
real  offering  on  the  altar  to  Jehovah  until  Onias  IV.  built  that  at 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


8a 


Onion,  b.c.  149,  our  inscription,  which  is  called  the  “part  of  a 
memorial  offering,”  could  not  have  been  written  earlier. 


No.  114«. 

: rr  pi  ip  yip  tn  cbw 

A lean  'peace-offering  for  the  torn  portion  of  the  rejected  city, 
O Jehovah. 

The  word  tn  is  not  known  ; but  it  may  be  taken  to  he  from 
nn,  to  grow  lean.  1 suppose  “ip  to  he  written  for  mp  or  il'1p, 
city,  as  in  No.  40. 

This  might  have  been  written  in  the  time  of  the  Maccabees, 
when  for  twenty-three  years  a part  of  the  city  was  held  by  the 
enemy. 


No.  115. 

: VP  n nbv 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  is  cut  short. 


No.  116. 

: ppi  m pi  “n  n 

A peace  offering  for  her  that  is  poor,  cast  out,  beloved,  spit  upon. 


The  first  line  of  No.  117. 

: liT  pnn  in  n y iw 

The  wall  of  the  famished  beloved  heap  of  ruins  is  the  bosom  of 
Jehovah. 

The  only  doubtful  letter  in  this  interesting  inscription  is  the  l 
in  the  first  word.  It  is  made  doubtful  by  being  lengthened 
upwards  so  as  to  give  to  it  the  form  of  a cross,  and  thus  indirectly 
to  show  the  writer’s  Christianity. 


84 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


No.  119. 

s m ay  i,b  pi 

*•  VP 

A peace-offering  for  the  people  rejected  and  passed  away,  the 
people  driven  away,  cut  short. 

The  letter  x at  the  end  of  the  first  line  seems  not  wanted. 
Possibly  the  first  letter  in  the  word  was  omitted,  and  then  the 
omission  supplied  in  the  second  line. 

No.  120. 

: pa  i?  m V?  n m1?  abv 

A peace-offering  for  a people  that  is  not,  a nation  passed  away, 
despised. 

The  words  and  C3l  are  doubtful.  The  first  we  have  in 
No.  48a  and  No.  149a;  the  second  maybe  for  TON,  a nation, 
which  we  have  in  No.  123 b.  The  letter  l is  here  often  used  for  n. 

No.  121. 

Tty  psp  n i # • par  rr  b 
: m in  : try  nix  ppr 

For  the  memorial.  * * her  that  is  cut  short,  made  hare,  purified, 
gathered,  awakened.  Favour,  accept. 

After  the  word  “ memorial  ” we  have  a space.  The  word  pjfp 
is  for  f’yp,  with  the  harshness  of  the  last  letter  softened.  The 
word  ppt,  to  purify,  is  used  in  a moral  sense  in  Malachi  iii.  1. 
The  word  “ivy  is  doubtful. 


No.  122. 

Y">  in  : xpn  ay  ubv  m 
: nnt  u m 

O Beloved,  a peace-offering  for  the  cast-out  people ; show  favour, 
accept  the  cast  away,  wandering,  scattered. 

In  No.  80a,  also,  God  is  so  addressed  as  0 Beloved.  The  first 
letter  in  the  last  word  is  doubtful. 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


85 


No.  123a. 

: ynj  pai 

A memorial  of  one  who  has  fled  away. 

The  writer  so  styles  himself.  He  had  fled  from  the  oppression 
of  his  country’s  conquerors. 


No.  1236. 

: ny  : br  rm  o*?icr 

A peace-offering  for  the  despised  nation.  Give  help. 

In  Lam.  i.  8,  we  have  the  word  to  despise ; but  the  first 
letter  in  the  word  is  doubtful.  We  have  the  word  NON  in 
No.  105,  and  cm  for  mx  with  the  same  meaning  in  No.  120. 


No.  124. 

: p?  par 
Vp  b ub  n p 
: jnio  it 

A memorial  for  the  city  that  hath  been  purified  [by  sufferings] . 
Make  the  people  to  rejoice  at  last,  O Jehovah,  who  art  to  be 
feared. 

The  first  word  in  the  second  line  is  doubtful,  but  our  reading 
of  it  is  made  probable  by  No.  916.  In  Isaiah  viii.  12,  13,  we 
have  K“)1D  as  an  object  of  reverence. 

This  interesting  inscription,  like  No.  916,  probably  belongs  to 
the  time  of  the  Maccabee  successes. 


No.  125. 

: xn  Np- 1 tn  n1?^ 

A peace-offering  for  one  that  is  cut  down , crushed,  sore  wounded. 
See  No.  172  for  our  wor.1  t/i.  I venture  to  take  njj  as  the 


86 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


same  as  jnj,  wounded.  The  last  letter  is  softened,  as  is  not  un- 
common in  Chaldee. 


No.  126. 

: pion  abw 
: w p 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  is  wandering ; establish  her  that  is 
mad  [ with  oppression],  0 Jehovah. 

We  had  the  word  pan  in  No.  91a,  and  elsewhere.  For  our 
word  n%n  see  Eccl.  vii.  7,  “ Oppression  maketh  the  wise  man 
mad.”  But  perhaps  the  second  b is  a mistake,  and  we  should 
read  r6n,  cast  off,  as  in  No.  13. 

This  inscription  may  have  been  written  in  the  time  of  Antioclius 
Epiphanes,  fifty  years  after  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes. 

No.  127. 

: *pa  npu  ^pj  nbv  : \ttt 

Do  Thou  change.  A worthless  peace-offering  for  her  that  is 
wholly  guiltless. 

We  have  the  prayer  for  a change  in  No.  40  and  No.  51.  The 
last  two  words  are  only  slightly  different  from  those  used  towards 
Edom,  in  Jerem.  xlix.  12,  that  it  shall  not  be  “wholly  unpunished.” 

The  writer  shows  his  love  for  alliteration. 

No.  128. 

w pm 
*w  n *v  m : *nr  y 
: w p"> 

A memorial  for  her  that  is  driven  forth,  Jerusalem,  which  is 
rejected,  scattered;  refresh  the  city  that  remaineth  rejected, 
O Jehovah. 

These  expressions  might  belong  to  the  time  of  the  Captivity, 
but  the  writing  has  no  appearance  of  antiquity. 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


87 


No.  129. 

: = un  n mb  Dbttf 
« t bv 
: rp  n 

A peace-offering  for  the  poor  nation,  0 Jehovah.  Prosper  the 
city  of  Jerusalem,  that  has  been  cut  short. 

For  the  two  horizontal  strokes  meaning  Jehovah,  see  No.  25 
and  No.  28.  The  t V in  the  word  b‘ V is  badly  formed.  I take 
that  word  as  the  imperative  of  n b'l\  The  letter  x in  the  last  line 
is  separated  into  two  parts  by  the  “i  in  the  second  line.  This 
inscription  proves  that  in  other  inscriptions,  it  was  not  from  a 
fault  in  Mr.  Grey’s  copy  that  the  letter  was  so  divided. 

No.  130. 

npb  'pm 
P : pp-i 

my  pu 
TU  n “in  : pi 
: IP  yp 

A memorial  for  the  society  which  is  spit  upon.  Favour  her  that 
is  crushed,  made  bare,  broken.  Separate  [as  a Nazarite]  her  who 
laments,  being  cut  short,  O Jehovah. 

In  1 Sam.  xix.  20,  we  have  npnb,  a company.  The  word  may 
perhaps  be  used  for  the  society  of  Christians,  as  in  No.  8 6b,  or  it 
may  be  a mistake  for  bnp,  the  usual  word  for  the  congregation  of 
Israel.  I suppose  pm  to  be  for  ym,  with  the  last  letter  softened, 
as  in  No.  22  and  No.  121.  The  fourth  line  ends  with  a doubtful 
letter. 


No.  133. 

: pt  Nxip  n obit’ 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  is  distressed,  the  purified  city. 

These  letters  are  badly  formed,  and  the  middle  letter  of  the 
first  word  is  badly  placed. 


88 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


No.  134. 

: vb  n av  : nbv 

A peace-offering.  Give  the  kneaded '[dough]. 

The  writer  may  mean  that  he  has  given  the  kneaded  dough  to 
the  priest  at  Onion,  and  does  not  mean  his  inscription  to  be  the 
whole  of  his  peace-offering. 


No.  135. 

vn  nbv  : nbv 

: b?y  ")' 

A peace-offering.  Prosper  the  poor  of  the  city  that  hath  been 
wronged. 

See  No.  59 a for  another  example  of  being  repeated;  but 
there  a difference  is  made  in  the  spelling  between  the  noun  and 
the  verb. 


No.  136. 

: pn  n : Npi  *v 

: ty«  Yn  nP 

A peace-offering  for  the  crushed  city ; contend  for  the  broken 
one ; take  a Jiery  dart. 

In  the  second  line  the  first  and  the  second  n are  unlike ; but 
they  are  both  met  with  in  these  inscriptions. 


No.  137. 

: rm  ft  : m nty  : oto 

A peace-offering.  Give  rest,  favour  her  that  is  bowed  down. 

I read  this  by  the  help  of  No.  109,  which  tells  us  that  the 
character  looking  like  b is  3,  that  we  have  n and  n joined,  and  that 
the  final  two  strokes  may  again  be  n. 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


89 


No.  138. 

nr6n  ippy  ~\y  nbv 
: Dt^p  “is'  na1?  nppo 

A peace-offering  for  the  perverse  citg,  cast  off,  despised,  weary, 
cursed,  stubborn. 

In  this  interesting  inscription  it  will  be  seen  that  the  second 
line  makes  nse  of  the  letter  d,  which  had  already  been  used  in  the 
first  line.  In  No.  65  this  letter  in  the  same  way  is  to  be  read  in 
both  lines.  Again  we  find  another  help  in  No.  65,  where  the 
letter  n,  which  ends  the  word  nx^>  in  the  second  line,  is  also  used 
for  the  end  of  nilVn  in  the  first  line.  The  circular  flourish  at 
the  end  of  the  first  line  is  the  letter  n,  as  we  see  in  No.  139A  We 
have  here  also  the  same  fanciful  writing.  The  "i  in  "in  hangs 
down  below  the  first  letter  in  the  word.  The  w is  of  a different 
form  from  that  usual  in  these  inscriptions,  and  more  like  our 
printed  letter.  We  have  the  same  in  No.  62;  but  here  it  is  in 
a place  which  allows  of  no  doubt. 

The  writer  seems  to  be  very  much  dissatisfied  with  what  was 
going  on  in  Jerusalem,  which  city  was  often  torn  to  pieces  by  the 
angry  passions  of  the  parties  who  were  struggling  for  power. 
This  belongs  to  Christian  times,  as  we  judge  from  the  ornamental 
writing,  but  to  a time  before  the  city  was  destroyed  by  the 
Romans. 


No.  139a. 

pb  n ^n  n oV?  obw 
: po  xo  Tp  Nnp  am  in  : it  i 

A peace-offering  for  the  people  which  is  failing,  sick,  which 
hath  been  gleaned,  O Jehovah.  Favour,  accept  the  blindness  of  the 
city  which  is  brought  to  an  end,  despised. 

We  had  the  word  in  No.  99 a,  with  the  same  doubt  about 
the  second  letter.  I take  "ip1?  to  stand  for  IDpb,  to  glean ; in 
No.  152  the  ID  is  a double  "f  . This  word  is  used  figuratively  for 
thoroughly  plundered  in  Isaiah  xvii.  5. 


90 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


In  No.  1 14 a we  had  "ip,  for  city.  Our  word  may  be  from 
nVj,  to  briny  to  an  end.  xnp,  blindness,  is  Chaldee. 


No.  1396. 

: nrrr  pzn  : pi  uy  ns  in  : p2i  b 

For  a memorial.  Favour  her  that  is  driven  forth,  the  rejected 
people.  The  bone-ashes  of  her  that  has  been  unwell. 

I consider  N2f  as  the  same  as  of  No.  128.  In  the  last  word 
the  circular  flourish  is  the  letter  n of  the  form  met  with  in 
No.  27. 

The  last  two  words  are  used  proverbially. 

By  Leviticus  xv.,  when  a woman  had  been  nVT,  sick,  and  had 
recovered,  she  was  ordered  to  bring  to  the  priest  two  young 
pigeons,  one  for  a sin  offering,  and  one  for  a burnt-offering.  By 
Leviticus  v.  11,  12,  a person  who  was  not  rich  enough  to  bring 
such  a gift  might  bring  a tenth  part  of  an  ephah  of  fine  flour, 
of  which  the  priest  was  to  burn  upon  the  altar  a handful  as  a 
memorial.  By  Leviticus  vi.  11,  the  priest  was  ordered,  when  the 
offering  was  ended,  to  put  off  his  holy  garments,  and  to  carry  forth 
the  bone-ashes  beyond  the  camp,  as  impure,  but  not  as  wholly  so, 
for  they  were  to  be  cast  forth  into  a clean  place.  Thus  of  all  that 
is  offered  to  Jehovah  these  ashes  are  the  least  valuable ; and  yet  in 
this  humble  way  the  writer  describes  his  memorial  inscription  as 
the  bone-ashes  of  a woman  who  has  been  sick. 

(See  No.  91«,  where,  with  an  equally  violent  figure  of  speech, 
the  inscription  is  called  a memorial  to  be  tied  about  the  neck.) 


No.  139c. 

: tt  pn  2b  n n ns~i  : pat 

» 

An  unholy  [or  unworthy ] memorial.  Accept  the  lamentation  of 
a broken  heart,  O Jehovah. 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


91 


No.  140. 

: yy  }n  tn  ny: 

The  weak  lowing  of  the  city  reduced  to  nought,  to  a heap  of 
ruins. 

The  word  jx  is  doubtful.  I understand  it  as  px,  vanity,  or 
nothing.  We  may  suppose  that  is  a strengthened  form  of  . 
The  lowing  of  cattle  is  here  used  for  a cry  of  grief. 


No.  141. 

py  toj  -m  iron 

: : pD  t DU  p-i  d y p 

A memorial  for  one  that  is  trampled  on,  made  strange,  pressed 
down,  of  the  people  cast  out,  destroyed,  of  the  guiltless  city.  A 
peace-ofjering. 

The  first  letter  in  the  second  line  may  be  part  of  the  last  word 
in  the  first  line. 

We  here  meet  with  the  word  *y,  a city,  for  the  twentieth  time ; 
and  if  it  needs  any  support  it  may  receive  it,  not  only  from  the 
woi’d  Jerusalem,  as  before  remarked,  but  also  from  Jericho.  The 
name  of  this  town  is  usually  written  ini',  and  we  may  conjecture 
that  it  began  to  be  written  inn*,  they  scatter  scent,  only  when 
the  plantation  of  palm-trees  and  balsam-trees  was  formed  there. 
The  fertility  of  Jericho,  which  allowed  of  this  plantation,  is,  in 
2 Kings  ii.,  given  to  the  reign  of  Jehoshaphat,  as  caused  by 
Elisha’s  miracle;  but  it  more  probably  was  due  to  works  of  irri- 
gation introduced  by  the  Persians.  The  original  name  of  Jericho, 
in  “V,  may  be  translated  the  hamlet  city. 

The  names  also  of  the  towns  Jarmuth,  Irpeel,  and  Jorkcam,  all 
begin  with  this  word  *v.  * 


92 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


No.  142a. 

n»  b not  b nbv 
: in  bi  b 

A peace-offering  for  what  is  cut  short,  for  what  remains,  for 
the  crushed  poor. 

I do  not  understand  the  letter  under  the  first  line. 

This  inscription  begins  with  a Christian  cross,  and  may  be  by  a 
Jewish  Christian  in  the  second  century.  The  thought  for  the 
poor  of  the  city  is  what  we  read  of  in  the  Apostle  Paul’s  Epistles. 

In  No.  91^7  we  had  in  the  same  way  the  preposition  b after 
the  word  ablD.  Here  two  forms  of  the  b are  used,  both  remark- 
ably clearly  written. 


No.  1426. 

: pn  yy  y 

For  the  crushed  city. 

I consider  the  y as  representing  the  preposition  by,  as  also  in 
No.  916,  and  No.  15G. 


No.  143. 

pn  tp  pan 
: pb  np  ay 

A memorial  for  the  crushed  city,  the  ruins  of  the  town  licked 
up,  O Jehovah. 

In  Ezek.  xxi.  27,  we  have  my,  a ruin;  our  word  xy  may  be  a 
Chaldee  form  of  it,  or  for  the  Hebrew  *y,  which  we  have  in  No.  74. 
We  have  np,  a town,  in  No.  1 14a.  In  No.  866  we  read  pb  as  a 
company ; here  we  take*  it  as  the  Chaldee  npb,  destroyed. 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


93 


No.  144. 

d pin 
: VPV 

A memorial  from  the  strong  camel. 

The  word  camel,  is  doubtful ; the  two  strokes  against  the  D 
may  represent  the  j ; but  there  was  the  figure  of  a beast  of  burden 
loaded  before  the  last  word.  The  word  poy  is  Chaldee  for  the 
Hebrew  oxy. 


No.  1456. 

: Np3  0 pDT 

: b 

A memorial  from  the  guiltless  city,  to  be  tied  about  the  neck. 

The  word  “ij  is  badly  spelt,  but  this  may  be  safely  read  by  the 
help  of  No.  91c,  where  we  have  the  same  thought  and  words, 
of  the  memorial  being  “tied  about  the  neck.”  We  have  here 
the  preposition  D in  an  unusual  place,  as  in  No.  144. 


No.  145c. 

pm  n;  pat 
: Nip  n 

Memorial  for  the  enchained  city,  which  is  renouned. 

The  word  pm  is  well  known,  but  perhaps  of  doubtful 
meaning. 


No.  146«. 

: = Npo  ay  abw 

A peace-offering  for  the  people  pining  away,  O Jehovah. 

The  two  strokes  which,  when  vertical,  I have  always  read  as  a 
symbol  for  Jerusalem,  are  by  modern  writers  used  for  Jehovah, 


94 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


and  they  may  be  so  understood  here  as  in  No.  25  and  No.  28. 
The  strokes  for  Jerusalem  are  vertical,  these  are  horizontal. 


No.  147. 

: p'pb  an  : pn  m a ym  n 

A vow,  a memorial  from  her  that  is  asleep,  depopulated. 
Raise  her  that  hath  been  licked  up. 

See  the  preposition  o in  No.  1 456,  and  the  word  pb  in  No.  46. 
This  may  mean  it  “ has  been  slain,”  and  had  its  blood  licked  up 
by  dogs. 

The  two  letters  with  which  this  inscription  begins  may  mean 
that  it  is  a Nazaritic  vow,  being  a word  formed  from  the  Chaldee 
llj,  to  vow. 

No.  160  is  a second  copy  of  the  same  inscription. 


No.  148a. 

: pm  Nip  bm  abv 
:’pn  b nb  nr 

A lean  peace-offer imj  for  her  that  is  bowed  down,  broken.  The 
people  melts  away  unto  emptiness. 


No.  1486. 

ns  di  : mb  ny  obttf 
: pi  ay 

A peace-offering  for  the  ruin  of  the  nation;  raise  her  that  is 
laid  waste,  the  rejected  people. 

These  characters  are  of  very  fanciful  forms.  The  y is  on  the 
top  of  the  n.  The  1 rises  out  of  the  b,  and  has  the  little  D on  its 
top.  (See  the  little  D in  No.  134.) 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


95 


No.  149a. 

Y~i  N'in  "py  ib  n pty  nbw 
: \iy 

A humble  peace-offering  for  her  that  is  not,  the  city  famished, 
crushed,  oppressed. 

The  “i  in  the  last  word  is  doubtful.  ( See  No.  48a  for  the 
word  lb.) 

No.  1495. 

m Dty  : -n  n xy  n nbv 
: vr 

A peace-offering  for  the  heap  of  ruins  which  has  been  plowed  up. 
Give  rest,  O Jehovah. 

The  two  letters  here  taken  as  *u  are  joined  into  a group  very- 
like  that  in  No.  70,  which  I read  as  n. 

These  two  inscriptions  belong  to  a time  after  the  destruction  of 
the  Temple  by  Titus. 

No.  150. 

xpnn  qy  pm  b 
: vr  p"io  n ’xy 

For  a memorial  for  the  vexed  people,  the  ruined  heap  which  is 
rejected,  0 Jehovah. 

The  word  p“iD  bears  the  meaning  of  rejected,  despised,  in 
Chaldee.  The  word  is  for  >y. 

No.  152. 

P“i  ay  p : *vy  bon : pm 
: in'  nqj  np  ono  x 

A memorial.  Pity  the  city ; make  the  people  to  rejoice,  who 
are  rejected,  hoping,  bowed  down,  made  to  be  aliens,  0 Jehovah. 

This,  though  written  in  a flowing  running  hand,  is  perfectly 


96 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


legible.  The  unknown  letter  following  the  30  in  the  second  line 
we  may  take  for  13.  It  is  like  a double  1. 


No.  153. 

: wp  yb  fOt  : XV  Q 

From  the  oppressed  people.  A memorial  of  one  mocked,  vomited 
out. 

The  first  letter  is  not  wholly  formed.  The  b is  of  the  Greek 
form,  but  it  slopes  the  wTong  wray.  The  w'ord  INp  is  perhaps  a 
mistake  for  Nip.  In  Clialdee  N2fy  is  to  oppress. 


No.  154a. 

: yp3  a1?  n nbv 

A peace-offering  for  the  people  that  is  awakened. 

This  last  wrord  might  be  read  as  the  Niphal  of  pip,  and  mean 
cut  short ; but  as  all  unnecessary  letters  are  usually  omitted,  the 
above  is  to  be  preferred. 

This  inscription  is  an  example  of  how  the  reading  is  obscured 
by  the  line  upon  which  the  letters  stand. 


No.  156. 

: w p ubv  : 12  jpd  obiy  y 

For  the  peace-offering  of  a lonely  feast ; a peace-offering  * *, 
O Jehovah. 

In  Psalm  xxxv.  16,  jiyo  is  a feast.  The  y at  the  beginning  may 
be  for  by,  as  in  No.  915,  and  elsewhere.  The  single  letter  p 
represents  some  unfinished  word. 

A peace-offering  was  a gift  to  the  altar,  which  the  worshipper 
shared  as  a feast  with  the  priest,  and  with  his  friends,  after  burning 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


97 


a memorial  portion  as  incense  to  Jehovah.  Hence,  as  the  traveller 
is  alone,  without  friends,  lie  calls  his  inscription  “ the  peace-offering 
of  a lonely  feast.” 


No.  157. 

: urn  im  m ppi  p : obiy 
: pw  nn  y 

A peace-offering.  Favour  one  spit  on,  wandering , trampled  on, 
poor.  For  a girding  of  sackcloth. 

The  word  “Tin  in  Chaldee  is  to  surround ; in  Hebrew  it  is  a 
chamber.  See  No.  40,  where  we  have  a “girding  of  sackcloth.” 


No.  158. 

: pi  ny  " pm  pm 

A memorial  of  the  braying  of  Jerusalem,  the  rejected  people. 

This  is  very  badly  written,  and  very  doubtful.  The  word  pro 
means  the  braying  of  an  ass.  The  Jews  in  Egypt  suffered  very 
severely  for  the  rashness  of  Jerusalem  in  rebelling  against  the 
Romans. 

The  writer  may  have  belonged  to  northern  Israel,  and  have 
been  no  friend  to  Jerusalem. 


No.  159. 

: did  Kin  a nbv 

A peace-offering  from  a fat  horse. 

See  No.  22  for  tbe  same  word  horse. 

This  inscription  seems  ironical,  or  rather  scoding,  among  the 
pious  prayers  with  which  it  is  surrounded. 

u 


98 


SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


No.  I62fl. 

Day  o cbw 
: ma  ay 

A peace-offering  from  the  peoples ; for  the  crushed  people. 

The  D as  a preposition  is  doubtful.  The  second  line  is  added 
by  another  hand.  We  have  the  word  miD,  broken,  in  Leviticus 
xxi.  20,  which  will  justify  our  rendering  of  the  last  word. 


No.  164. 

nbv 
sup  b 
: riP 

A peace-offering  for  the  end  cut  off. 

We  have  these  words  in  No.  97,  but  without  the  preposition. 
Such  is  the  melancholy  way  in  which  the  nation  is  described. 


No.  165. 

Np"i  ny 
Tjna  n 

: pi 

The  ruined  heap  cast  off,  that  which  has  been  injured,  rejected. 

The  second  line  is  doubtful.  The  word  is  regularly  formed 
from  by>,  to  benefit  ; but  it  more  probably  means  injured,  from  *?!]/, 
to  injure,  as  we  have  read  it  in  No.  112. 


No.  167. 

■n'  b -u  b sids 
: Nnn: 

The  space  in  the  first  line  held  the  figure  of  a camel,  and  may 
have  also  held  the  letter  j. 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


99 


A peace-offering  for  the  camel’s  foal,  to  be  gathered  up  upon 
the  neck,  beloved  of  Jehovah. 

The  word  Jehovah  is  doubtful ; but  the  complex  character 
towards  the  end  of  the  second  line  seems  to  begin  with  an  b and 
to  end  with  an  >,  each  a down-stroke ; the  up-stroke  in  the  middle 
seems  merely  to  unite  them.  In  No.  3 we  have  li'b  united  into 
one  character  in  the  same  manner. 

The  word  rpN  often  means  to  gather  up  the  rear  of  the  army; 
hence  the  feeble  foal,  having  been  born  in  the  desert,  if  laid  upon 
its  mother’s  neck,  is  said  to  be  gathered  up. 

But  I rather  consider  the  words  as  proverbial,  meaning  “ to  be 
taken  care  of,”  and  borrowed  from  a custom,  which  is  shown  on 
Egyptian  figures  older  than  Christianity,  of  the  good  shepherd 
carrying  the  lamb  on  his  shoulders,  with  its  feet  held  around  his 
neck. 

The  last  word  might  be  rendered  hidden ; but  may  also  be 
from  mn,  to  love. 


No.  168. 

: pip  " hnr 

Oppressed  Jerusalem  pines  away. 

The  Hebrew  2W  may  give  us  our  first  word.  We  have  py,  or 
ppy,  in  No.  141. 


No.  169. 

: pa  oy  nbw 

: V?tp  « m 

A peace-offering  for  the  despised  people ; the  olive  of  Jerusalem 
fails. 


In  Jerem.  \i.  16,  Jerusalem  is  called  a green  olive-tree. 


100 


S1NAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS, 


No.  171. 

: yp  n Npm  bb  □ bv 
: in'  m n^p  hd1? 

A peace-offering  fur  her  that  is  cast  out,  that  is  cut  short ; lead, 
gather  together,  refresh,  O Jehovah. 

In  No.  164,  as  in  Deut.  vii.  10,  □Vttf  is  followed  by  the  pre- 
position b;  here  we  have  the  double  letter.  In  Exod.  xxxiii.  14, 
Jehovah  says,  f<r  JNIy  presence  shall  lead  and  give  thee  rest,”  using 
the  word  which  we  have  here  rendered  to  lead,  or  to  go  ivith 
iny  one. 


No.  172. 

arm  py  nbw 
: it  in  : aa 

A peace-offering  for  her  that  is  pressed  down,  cut  down,  faint. 
Show  favour,  O Jehovah. 

The  word  Tj"in,  cut  down,  is  found  in  Isaiah  xviii.  5,  as  the 
Iliphil  of  this  verb.  Our  word  establishes  its  root.  I take  the 
D of  the  first  line  to  be  also  the  first  letter  in  the  second  line, 
as  in  No.  138  and  others.  The  second  letter  in  jn  is  doubtful. 


No.  173. 

: npw  am 

False  compassion. 

The  first  word  may  be  doubtful.  The  a is  not  wholly  formed. 
The  writer  might  be  a good  Israelite,  and  yet  no  friend  to  Jeru- 
salem. This  is  from  a valley  near  to  Sarabet  el  Kadem. 

No.  174. 

: vv  mntf  bx  dn1?  nbv 

A peace- offering  for  the  people,  O God  Almighty,  Jehovah. 

The  second  and  third  b have  somewhat  of  the  Greek  form. 


TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


101 


For  the  Hebrew  Httf  we  have  nittf.  This  is  the  only  one  of  our 
inscriptions  which  so  addresses  God. 

No.  170. 

n in  : pDi 
pi  nyi 

A memorial.  Favour  her  that  is  vomited  forth,  Beauty  that  is 
rejected. 

Zechariahj  in  eh.  xi.  7,  uses  this  very  word  “ Beauty,”  as  it 
seems,  for  the  kingdom  of  Judah.  In  Daniel,  though  with  a 
different  Hebrew  word,  Jerusalem  is  called  “ Beauty  ” in  eh.  viii.  9, 
and  in  eh.  xi.  45,  Zion  is  called  “ the  holy  mountain  of  Beauty.” 

No.  177. 

Nmp  abut 

: 11'  pi  □>' 

A peace- offering  for  her  that  is  cut  short,  the  broken  people,  0 
Jehovah. 


No.  178  [on  Plate  13]. 

: in'  pmm  ttfii  m : yp  n par  d 

MvuirSrj  avTOQ  Epcou 
KnAfrcuov  Mapou. 

f/U*A0Ot. 

A part  of  a memorial  for  her  that  is  cut  short.  Give  rest  to 
poor  Baruk,  O Jehovah. 

May  he  himself,  the  son  of  Heresh,  iZnn,  the  son  of  Kelita, 
NID’^p,  the  son  of  Marah,  niD,  be  remembered. 

The  first  line  begins  with  d,  as  in  No.  113. 

The  name  Baruk,  or  rather  Paruk,  means  Made  free,  as  in 
No.  21,  not  Blessed,  the  name  of  Jeremiah’s  friend.  The  word 
auTos  tells  us  that  the  Hebrew  line  contains  the  man’s  name. 
The  name  Kelita  is  certainly  Hebrew,  the  others  arc  probably  so. 

This  was  no  doubt  written  by  an  Alexandrian  Jew. 


102  SINAITIC  INSCRIPTIONS,  TRANSLATED  AND  EXPLAINED. 


No.  179  [on  Plate  14]. 

: ny  * pmn  pDf 

A memorial  for  the  bondage  of  Jerusalem,  the  broken  people. 

The  Chaldee  Npin,  a bond  or  chain,  may  give  us  our  word  pmn. 
In  Hebrew  it  means  to  strangle,  as  in  No.  2. 

In  this  inscription,  published  by  Mr.  Grey  in  facsimile,  the 
letters  » and  3 are  strictly  the  same.  From  this  we  can  judge 
of  many  of  the  other  inscriptions,  that  the  confusion  of  letters 
is  due,  sometimes  at  least,  to  the  writer,  and  not  the  copier. 


Note  on  No  3 6b. 

During  one  part  of  the  Maccabee  struggle,  the  city  of  Jeru- 
salem was  held  by  one  party  in  the  State,  and  the  Castle  by  the 
other  party.  This  inscription  may  possibly  be  a prayer  for  those 
within  the  Castle,  as  No.  91A  is  a prayer  for  those  on  the  outside 
of  the  Castle.  The  two  writers  may  have  held  opposite  opinions 
as  to  the  struggle. 


INDEX  OF  HEBREW  AND  CIIALDEE  WOLDS. 


The  numbers  against  each  word  refer  to  the  inscriptions. 
“ Often  ” means  that  a word  is  used  about  twenty  times,  and 
therefore  no  numbers  are  added.  The  letter  C.  against  a word 
marks  that  it  is  to  be  looked  for  in  the  Chaldee  Lexicon. 


iinx,  is  willing,  51. 
px,  a stone,  72. 

*?TX,  failing,  51. 
xbrx,  failing,  139. 

]b?x,  failing,  99. 
bx,  God,  174. 

XDX,  a nation,  105. 
iiOX,  a nation,  1 23. 
box,  feeble,  106. 

]X,  nought,  140. 

»3X,  me,  objective,  70. 
p3X,  to  groan,  91. 
p|DX,  to  gather  up,  167. 

“ix,  the  earth,  63,  103. 

“ix,  cursed,  22,  25,  27,  95, 138. 
mx,  gathered,  121. 
nx,  a lion,  95. 

-px,  lengthen,  24,  25,  26,  95, 
105. 

"[nix,  lengthen,  100. 

□IX,  Syria,  81. 
ti'X,  fire,  19,  136. 
xntt’X,  a wall,  48. 

m,  lying,  false,  85. 

13,  solitary,  1 56. 

HD,  despised,  17. 

tn,  plundered,  a prey,  91,  100. 

bn,  lest,  13. 

pn,  depopulated,  147. 

pin,  emptiness,  148. 

x-in,  fat,  159. 


mn,  made  to  flee,  96. 
xmn,  made  to  flee,  44. 
pnnn,  a proper  name,  178. 
p”D,  cast  forth,  148. 

XJJ,  sore  wounded,  125. 
boj,  a camel,  144,  167. 
njp  lowing,  140. 

“)J,  the  neck,  91,  145,  167. 

JiXl,  a decree,  80. 
m,  sacrificed,  38. 

II,  beloved,  80,  95,  122. 

HI,  beloved,  1 1 6. 

in,  beloved,  117. 
m,  thus,  82,  85. 

Dm,  to  tread  down,  85. 

III,  sick,  71. 

xm,  sick,  18,  71,  91. 
iim,  sick,  139. 

11,  weak,  88. 
rrm,  cast  out,  61 . 
m,  cast  away,  95,  119,  122. 
pill,  is  rearing,  69. 
xpm,  vexed,  150. 

V>  crushed,  142. 

pm,  a memorial,  often. 

pim,  a memorial,  98,  111,  141 . 

bl,  poor,  weak,  116,  140,  142. 

bill,  lean,  148. 

pbl,  persecution,  28. 

cm,  blood,  95. 


104 


INDEX  OE  HEBREW  AND  CHALDEE  WORDS. 


non,  cut  off,  142. 
p,  contend  for,  136. 
njn,  knowledge,  Gnosticism,  25. 
P%  scanty,  broken,  3,  6,  16,  24, 
43,  47,  49,  55,  59,  62,  84, 
106,  130,  142,  143. 

Npn,  broken,  1,16,  83,  94,  105, 
136. 

yp*T,  crushed,  59. 

pp*T,  broken  to  pieces,  13. 

|p*T,  to  keep  alive,  1. 

“i*T,  a vow,  C.,  78,  147,  160. 

“i“7,  a generation,  27. 
p“7,  generations,  87. 
pi*7,  to  shoot,  36. 
t£H,  trodden  down,  38,  62. 

]I£H,  bone-ashes,  139. 

n,  the  article , often. 

nnnn,  a Gnostic  word,  25,  75. 

njn,  sighing,  2,  54. 

xnn,  this,  C.,  91. 

*nn,  to  beautify,  91. 

"jn,  smitten,  1 . 
n^>n,  cast  off,  13,  55. 

N^n,  cast  off,  55. 
nn^n,  cast  off,  65,  138. 

to  clothe,  9 1 . 

I^n,  gone  away,  91,  91. 
nV^n,  mad,  126. 

|bn,  therefore,  C.,  91. 

N^n,  driven  forth,  128. 
nii'n,  been  left,  4. 

Unn,  made  poor,  6. 

1,  and,  67. 

l,  his,  a suffix,  34,  36. 

□1,  a nation,  120. 

Nr,  this,  56. 

NH?,  pines  away,  1 68. 


i?,  melts  away,  106,  148. 
nn?,  to  slaughter,  81. 
nr,  this,  23. 

“iDf,  remembei-ed,  25. 
p3f,  a memorial,  often. 
pIDf,  a memorial,  107. 

^7,  despised,  123. 
nn,  a tail,  107. 
mr,  cast  off,  105. 
pp,  calls  aloud,  17. 
pr,  purified,  19,  70,  99,  104, 
124,  133. 

Npr,  purified,  76. 
ptpr,  purified,  82. 
ppf,  purified,  121. 

“if,  a vow,  87. 

“if,  foreign,  1,  96. 
nr,  scattered,  61. 
xnr,  scattered,  128. 
mr,  scattered,  122. 
nr,  olive-tree,  169. 

^nn,  rejected,  62. 

mn,  a girding,  40,  49,  157. 

pnn,  bosom,  1 1 7. 

pin,  outside,  25. 

XJfin,  outside,  91. 

nun,  white,  27. 

bn,  profane,  unworthy,  87, 139. 

p^n,  profaned,  71. 

^rr,  sick,  139. 

| btl,  slay,  54. 
s^n,  a wound,  83. 

1 ii'Vn,  to  cut  off,  84'. 
non,  desired,  25. 
bon,  pity,  152. 
pnn,  wandering,  11,87,  99. 
prnn,  wandering,  126. 

Npnn,  wandering,  74,  91. 
p,  favour,  often. 
pin,  to  strangle,  2. 


INDEX  OF  HEBREW  AND  CHALDEE  WORDS. 


105 


pmrr,  bondage,  179. 
pn,  allotment,  appointed,  43, 
100. 

a“in,  to  destroy,  1 1 3. 
pn,  determined,  80. 
p,  a dart,  136. 

PU’,  be  shall  die,  13. 
jn>,  wisdom,  25. 

",  Jerusalem,  17,  23,  30,  40, 
45,71,  81,89,  168,  169,  179. 
lil’,  Jehovah,  often. 

IT,  Jehovah,  often. 

T,  a city,  often. 

“in’,  a city,  16. 

NT,  put  in  fear,  76. 

NpT,  payment,  78. 

T£”,  righteous,  104. 

’JO,  the  poor,  80. 

“QD,  confederation,  29,  30. 
b'J,  wholly,  89,  95. 
p,  establish,  22,  31,  126. 
lDD,  His  throne,  36. 
b,  unto,  preposition,  often, 
bb,  unto,  preposition,  171. 

PIN*?,  weary,  65,  138. 
r6,  weary,  27. 
ir6,  are  weary,  22. 
n*7,  heart,  36,  139. 

a garment,  27. 

□x7,  people,  174. 
cd’p,  people,  2,  41,  51,  76,  86, 
96,  124,  148,  154. 

people,  6,  37,  55,  59,  104, 
106,  112,  120, 129, 139,  148. 
nrai*?,  people,  80. 
in1?,  therefore,  55. 
lb,  not,  48,  120,  149. 
despised,  86,  91. 
despised,  153. 


>b’b,  by  night,  6. 

gone  away,  16,  119,  120. 
■p^,  gone  away,  56. 

HD/,  to  lead,  171. 
pb,  to  lick  up,  46,  143. 
pi^,  licked  up,  56. 
pip1?,  licked  up,  76. 
p>pb,  to  lick  up,  147. 
npV,  gleaned,  139. 
np“?,  society,  130. 
pb,  society,  86. 

* L'b,  to  knead,  134. 

D,  from,  a part  of,  a preposition, 
41,  113,  144,  145,  147,  153, 
162,  178. 

EDO,  to  hope,  152. 

iiHD,  crushed,  63,  103. 

JQ,  faint,  172. 

JiD,  mocked,  91. 

NTD,  to  be  feared,  124. 
p^>D,  nipped  off,  31. 

|D,  a portion,  32. 

JpD,  a feast,  156. 
nyo,  slipping  off,  69. 
pD,  despised,  61,  62,  120,  139, 
169. 

NpQ,  pining  away,  146. 
ppD,  mocked,  83. 
nppD,  despised,  65,  138 
mD,  crushed,  162. 
p“iD,  rejected,  C.,  150. 

“INI,  devoted  to  destruction,  43. 
yp3J,  broken  up,  91. 

*N,  wandering,  1.22,  157. 

□T,  destroyed,  16,  141. 
m,  pasture,  49. 

>m,  lamenting,  130. 

>3,  lamentation,  139. 

NPU,  lamentation,  80c 


106 


INDEX  OF  HEBREW  AND  CHALDEE  WORDS. 


^m,  fled  away,  123. 

^>yi3,  injured,  112,  165. 

Np?3,  injured,  61. 
in,  separate,  130. 
m,  rest,  10,  91,  102,  109,  137, 
149. 

m,  to  refresh,  178. 

0173,  pity,  110,  173. 

Nnm,  beloved,  167. 

“V3,  to  cultivate,  49. 

13,  to  cultivate,  149. 

70,  a lamp,  1. 

733,  made  strange,  31. 

“1133,  strange,  141. 

>733,  an  alien,  106,  152. 

7^3,  made  an  end  of,  58. 

^3,  made  an  end  of,  139. 

□3,  sleep,  91,  147. 

Nfj/3,  bold,  29. 

1/^3,  they  are  defiled,  106. 
oy3,  beauty,  176. 

“py3,  set  in  order,  91. 
np’3,  guiltless,  127. 

*p3,  guiltless,  127. 
p3,  guiltless,  23,  37,  141. 

Np3,  guiltless,  11,  72,  86,  91, 
145. 

np3,  guiltless,  49,  91. 
pH3,  to  bray,  158. 

^>p3,  worthless,  127. 
pp3,  awakened,  154. 

*13,  plowed  up,  149. 

H3,  made  lean,  67. 

□373,  bound,  76. 

Dip,  a horse,  22,  69,  159. 
ybv,  a rock,  91. 

y,  for,  a preposition,  27,  32,  76, 
91,  91,  156,  157. 

Ny,  a ruin,  95,  143,  149. 


>Ny,  ruin,  150. 

>y,  a ruin,  17,  18,  22,  27,  71, 
74,  75,  91,  91,  109,  117. 
ny,  ruined,  22,  55,  55,  86,  95, 
96,  148,  165. 

Nny,  ruined,  27c. 

N’y,  ruins,  98. 

>yy,  ruins,  140. 

’y>y,  ruins,  37. 

yy,  Jerusalem,  91,  96,  128. 

□y,  a proper  name,  1 . 

7y,  congregation,  78. 
my,  congregation,  25,  27. 

“py,  thy  congregation,  53. 

ny,  ornament,  84. 

piy,  oppressed,  22,  168. 

pmy,  oppressed,  75. 

ry,  strengthen,  14. 

nry,  give  help,  18,  27,  91,  123. 

“ivy,  awakened,  121. 

7>y,  city,  often. 
m»y,  city,  80. 

“iy,  city,  32,  91,  109,  133,  145. 
ny,  my  city,  29. 

"vy,  a foal,  167. 
by,  for,  27. 

by,  unjustly  treated,  22,  37. 
biy,  defiled,  91. 

^iy,  gleaned,  74. 
yby,  a rib,  27. 

□y,  people,  often. 

□Dy,  people,  162. 
prny,  strong,  C.,  14  L. 
jiy,  make  happy,  2. 
my,  tied,  91. 
m3y,  tied,  145. 
my,  answer,  25. 
my,  afflicted,  61,  81. 

Nimy,  afflicted,  2. 

13y,  afflicted,  1 1 . 
py,  counsel,  31. 


INDEX  OF  HEBREW  AND  CHALDEE  WORDS. 


107 


nyy,  counsel,  48. 

1%  oppressed,  C.,  153. 
py,  afflicted,  45,  46,  47,  51,  58, 
59,  65,70,71,95,  110,172. 
ypy,  crushed,  59. 

Xpy,  crushed,  GO,  64. 
b’py,  wronged,  135. 
ppy,  pressed  down,  141. 
ipy,  bound,  14. 

Iiy,  made  bare,  6,  1 3,  49,  121, 
130. 

ii’py,  perverse,  138. 

Piy,  a bed,  43. 
py,  oppressed,  149. 
p-tyy,  rich  men,  113. 

pID,  broken  free,  21,  41. 
pXID,  broken  free,  24. 

X¥,  driven  forth,  139. 

}X¥,  a sheep,  107. 

“72f,  laid  waste,  4. 

T72f,  laid  waste,  148. 
p12f,  righteous,  54. 

TO,  lamentation,  4. 
pyjc,  crieth  out,  16. 
pX,  oppressed,  3,  49,  98. 

XpX,  distressed,  91. 

“IX,  afflicted,  89. 

Xp,  vomited  out,  64,  96. 
ixp,  vomited  out,  153. 

Ip,  vomited  out,  176, 
ypxp,  a print  mark,  91. 

Dp.  blasphemed,  72. 

yip,  gather  in,  82. 

ip,  bowed  down,  95,  106,  152. 

Xlp,  bowed  down,  148. 

lip,  mourning,  62 

xnp,  blindness,  139. 

^>np,  congregation,  94. 
yrtp,  awakened,  16,  91. 


yip,  put  away,  86,  153. 

Hp,  take,  136. 

1*p,  a city,  37,  139. 

“ip,  a city,  40,  56,  95,  114,  143. 
fbp,  vile,  C.,  98. 

raise  up,  13,  14. 

□Hp,  to  raise  up,  94. 

□ip,  raise  up,  95. 
yp,  alienated,  67. 
yp,  end,  piece  cut  off,  56,  124, 
164. 

yp,  cut  short,  15,  17,  18,  27, 
49,  87,  90,  91,  101,  112, 
115,  119,  171,  178. 

X¥p,  cut  short,  10,  91,  97,  102, 
112,  164. 

xynp,  cut  short,  17,  28,  44,  67, 
177. 

ynp,  cut  short,  11,  16,  25,  91. 
yip,  cut  short,  27,  55,  97,  164. 
NSflp,  cut  short,  133. 
yxp,  destroyed,  72,  74. 
p2fp,  cut  short,  121. 

X“ip,  renouned,  1 45. 

XXIp,  renouned,  84. 
nip,  bald,  91. 
yip,  portion,  1 14. 
pp,  torn  to  pieces,  15,  99. 
□Xlp,  broken  pieces,  2. 
typ,  stubble,  23,  86. 
n&'p,  gather,  171. 
nii'p,  enslaved,  38. 

□li’p,  stubborn,  138. 

□XI,  buffalo,  or  Syria,  54. 

11,  to  increase,  87. 

II,  trampled  on,  16,  48,  98. 

III,  trampled,  157. 

Ill,  trampled  on,  29,  71,  141. 
mi,  trampled  on,  75. 

□11,  asleep,  58,  75. 


108 


INDEX  OF  HEBREW  AND  CHALDEE  WORDS. 


xnpm,  anointing  oil,  27. 

□n,  raise  up,  147. 

CD"),  raise  up,  25,  91,  148. 
m,  cast  out,  16. 

m,  refresh,  4,  91,  128,  171. 
nn,  refresh,  1,  70. 

n,  famine,  75,  1 1 7. 

Kin,  famished,  149. 
pi,  lean,  32. 

rn,  lean,  114. 
pm,  removed,  47. 
n,  make  rejoice,  17,  18,  37,  59, 
82,  91,  106,  124,  152. 

Nn,  rejoicing,  91. 

pr,  make  to  rejoice,  88,  91. 

jn,  wicked,  4 1 . 

pi,  hurt,  1,  4,  25. 

pi,  companion,  1,  96. 

pi,  desired,  72. 

pi,  accept,  29,  48,  67,  80,  83, 
81,  121,  122. 

NXl,  accept,  26,  99,  113,  139. 
NXni,  accept,  28. 

pm,  accept,  25. 

pi,  crushed,  38,  65,  148,  149. 
NXl,  crushed,  2. 
pjfl,  crushed,  22,  130. 
pi,  rejected,  often. 

Npl,  cast  out,  23,  55,  61,  69, 
80,  122,  152. 

pn,  rejected,  40,  47,  74. 

pm,  emptied,  broken, 3, 13, 148. 
xpni,  rejected,  98,  171. 

pn,  broken,  136,  139. 

Npl,  cast  off,  thrown  off  [the 
horse],  69,  80,  125,  152,  165. 
ypl,  crushed,  55. 
ppi,  spit  upon,  116,  130,  157. 
an,  poor,  3,  129,  135. 
am,  wretched,  25,  157,  178. 


pan,  wicked,  36. 
pDl,  enchained,  145. 

ma>,  Almighty,  174. 
rjnm,  blighted,  38. 
nra’,  humbled,  91. 
na’,  bowed  down,  109,  137. 
aViP,  preserve,  95. 
na’,  a wall,  95,  117. 
lVa’,  fails,  169. 

Nl'ra’,  failing,  90. 

N^a’,  prosper,  63. 
nVa’,  prosper,  37. 

□Va>,  a peace-offering,  often. 
□Va*,  heal,  1,  28,  135. 
onViP,  to  make  prosper,  16,59. 
□a’,  give,  10,  102,  109,  134, 
137,  149. 

pa?,  change,  40,  51,  127. 
nra*,  change,  86. 
pa’,  help,  41. 

Pia>,  to  cry  out,  51. 
mpa>,  a support,  9 1 . 
pa’,  sackcloth,  40,  157. 
ppa?,  put  in  a sack,  49. 
pa’,  humbled,  cast  out,  46,  111, 
149. 

jpa’,  humbled,  C.,  99. 

npa*  false,  173. 

na?,  remaining,  86,  128,  142. 

rn,  cut  down,  125. 

Nirn,  cut  down,  172. 

SYMBOLS. 

*,  the  enemy,  2,  71. 

?,  the  writer’s  name,  80,  96. 
t,  a Christian  cross,  11,  19,  85, 
86,  111,  117,  142. 

= , Jehovah,  25,  28,  129,  146. 


Woodfall  & Kinder,  Printers,  Milford  Lane,  Strand,  London,  W C. 


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[No.1.  TI.13.] 

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179.  [/*^tc  14.] 

